Suspects in Toms River fatal Route 37 crash offered plea deals
The three are scheduled to appear for an early disposition conference at the Ocean County courthouse.
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News 12 has learned the three suspects charged in the deaths of two young people in Toms River from a Route 37 crash last March were offered plea deals.
The three suspects were in court Wednesday for an arraignment. That hearing was postponed until December.
Two out of the three people charged in that incident rejected those plea deals. The lead suspect, Carlos Martinez, also requested a change of venue for the trial.
Carlos Martinez, 18, and 18-year-old Ryan Rivera, still in custody, were joined by the third defendant, 20-year-old Jake Beauchamp inside Judge Guy Ryan's courtroom in Toms River for what would have been an arraignment.
All three suspects face numerous charges from the March 7th crash on Route 37 that left 23-year-old Evan Fiore and 21-year-old Kiley Armstrong dead.
They were struck by the white BMW traveling more than 100 mph, allegedly driven by Martinez, according to court documents.
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The now 18-year-old Martinez has been charged as an adult with vehicular homicide and aggravated assault. According to court documents, Martinez was driving drunk without a license and blew through a red light on Route 37.
Passengers 20-year-old Jake Beauchamp and 18-year-old Ryan Rivera are also facing vehicular homicide charges, along with hindering prosecution and suppressing evidence.
Martinez was offered a deal of 30 years state prison if he admitted his guilt to several of the most serious charges among the 41-counts he faces.
Rivera and Beauchamp were also offered 20-year sentence deals if they agreed to plead guilty to some of their charges.
Beauchamp’s public defender said that option remains open, while attorneys for Rivera and Martinez flat out rejected the deals offered by the state.
“We reject said offer. In fact, we reject any offer. My client maintains his innocence. We imagine this case will go to trial,” said Reid Weinman, the attorney representing Martinez.
The assistant prosecutor said in court that there is a massive amount of discovery in the form of electronic evidence from cell phones which will take a long time to sift through.
Martinez requested a change of venue. The arraignment was adjourned and postponed to Dec. 5.
