Obituaries

Tree-Planting Planned to Memorialize 11-Year-Old Killed in Crash

Tevia Booth died from injuries sustained in a car crash on Route 15 in Jefferson when her stepfather was allegedly drunk behind the wheel.

Classmates of an 11-year-old girl killed in a car crash on Jefferson's Route 15 last month will be planting a tree in her honor, according to The Jersey Journal.

Tevia Booth, of Jersey City, was one of four who were killed in the crash on Aug. 24. Two adults, Booth's grandmother and another relative, and an unborn baby were also killed as a result of the crash.

A relative of the victims, Luis Torres, was charged with three counts of first-degree aggravated manslaughter, three counts of second-degree vehicular homicide and five counts of fourth-degree assault by auto as authorities said he was drunk when he drove the SUV carrying nine people, including them, and crashed.

Torres, 37, of Jersey City, allegedly told authorities he had been drinking that day and was "probably twice the legal limit" when he got behind the wheel to drive the 2002 Ford Explorer. He was sent to the Morris County Correctional Facility in lieu of $750,000 bail.

A funeral for Booth, Torres' stepdaughter, was held Tuesday. 

Booth would have been starting a new school year at the Joseph H. Brensinger Elementary School 17 in Jersey City this year. Students will host a special memorial service for Booth and plant a tree in her memory with a plaque in the school garden according to The Jersey Journal.


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