Jacquelyn Walker, 64, of South Jersey.
A South Jersey woman pleaded guilty Thursday to felony third-degree murder, aggravated assault by vehicle, and reckless endangerment in connection with the death of a Montgomery County firefighter, according to prosecutors and The Philadelphia Inquirer.
While her sentencing is deferred for 90 days, she faces a maximum of 24 years in prison.
Jacquelyn Walker, 64, admitted she knew the brakes on her 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee were faulty and in disrepair when she went for that fateful drive at 3 a.m. on July 24, 2021 from her Little Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey home to Quakertown, eventually hitting three Belmont Hills Fire Company firefighters and a state trooper on the shoulder of I-76 in Lower Merion, per reports. One of the firefighters was Thomas Royds, 48, who suffered severe injuries and later died at Paoli Hospital, per the report.
The other emergency responders suffered broken bones, concussions and torn ligaments, per reports: Firefighter Alex Fischer, 22, was found unconscious with a broken left femur, broken left pelvis, and broken ribs; firefighter Samuel Shaffer, 17, was found unconscious and suffered a head fracture and brain bleeding, and a torn MCL, ACL and meniscus in his right leg; and Trooper Jarred Burnett was found conscious in the westbound roadway and suffered an injured neck, hip, pelvis and elbow.
All three were flown to Penn-Presbyterian Hospital, police said.
Third-degree murder is killing with malice, acting either on an intent to kill, on an intent to inflict serious bodily injury, or on “a wickedness of disposition, hardness of heart, cruelty, recklessness of consequences and a mind regardless of social duty, indicating an unjustified disregard for the probability of death or great bodily harm, and an extreme indifference to the value of human life.”
According to The Inquirer, Walker acted on sustained recklessness and her actions justified third-degree murder, said Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele. Steele told The Inquirer that Royds’ family urged him to accept the plea.
“She was in a car that shouldn’t have been on the road, that she knew shouldn’t have been on the road,” Steele said in the article. “That rises to the level of malice.”
Felony third-degree murder alone carries a 20 to 40-year prison sentence, but the standard sentencing guideline is six to 20 years, according to authorities.
In addition to the sole felony third-degree murder charge, Walker has also pleaded to two felony counts of aggravated assault by vehicle, five misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment, and speeding, per court records.
According to The Inquirer, an inspection of Walker’s Jeep confirmed the brakes did not work and had not for years.
Police said Royds was unresponsive and state troopers and fire personnel performed CPR and advanced medical treatment at the scene, but he would later be pronounced dead at 6:19 a.m. at the hospital. An autopsy determined Royds died of blunt impact trauma.
Two-and-a-half hours before the fatal crash, Walker was stopped by three New Jersey police departments, police said. First, Harrison Township Police stopped Walker at 12:33 a.m. for driving without headlights on, and she told them she was lost for three hours looking for Route 38, police said. She was given directions and released with a warning, police said.
Then, 12 minutes later, Washington Township Police stopped Walker for a broken brake light, and she gave them the same story, and again, she was given directions and released with a warning, police said.
Finally, Walker was stopped at 1:41 a.m. by Woolrich Township Police for a broken rear license plate light, two broken brake lights, and speeding 10 miles over the limit, police said. Once again, Walker related the lost story, and the officer handwrote directions, handed them to her and released her with a warning, police said.
Police said Troopers Burnett and Michelle Naab, as well as Gladwyne Fire Department and Belmont Hills Fire Department, responded to a two-car crash with possible injuries at 3:06 a.m. at mile marker 335 of the four-lane I-76 in Lower Merion Township. Both cars were parked on the westbound berm, and the Belmont Hills fire truck parked in the right lane of the roadway to protect the vehicles, police said.
Fire personnel placed traffic cones in the right lane of travel to warn motorists, and then Gladwyne’s fire truck arrived and parked at an angle on the right berm of the highway in the right lane of travel, police said. Burnett parked the police vehicle in the right travel lane in front of the Belmont Hills fire truck, and to the left of a Nissan Altima, which was one of the vehicles involved in the crash, police said. Police said vehicles continued on I-76 in the left travel lane.
Upon finding no injuries on the victims of the crash, the ambulances were recalled, and Gladwyne Fire Department left the scene westbound, police said. Meanwhile, Belmont Hills firefighters and personnel remained on the right berm of the roadway next to the fire truck, as Burnett interviewed the driver of the Altima, Cole Strempel, 23, who was seated in the car, police said.
Suddenly, Walker, driving her dark purple Jeep Grand Cherokee, sped westbound on the right berm of I-76 and entered the active emergency response zone, police said. The Jeep slammed between the concrete barrier and the Belmont Hills fire truck, hitting the three firefighters on the right berm, police said.
The Jeep continued westbound and hit the rear of the Altima on the right berm, sending it further westbound down I-76, striking Burnett along the way, police said. Strempel was not injured, police said.
Police said Walker drove over several rumble strips on the right berm and continued to drive on the berm through several emergency personnel, and there was no evidence she applied the brakes.
Trooper Naab and another responding trooper witnessed Walker exit her Jeep and pour out a liquid from a cup, police said. Police stopped Walker and smelled the cop, noticing an odor of alcohol, police said.
Walker was taken to Roxborough Hospital for a blood sample to determine BAC, but it determined she had no alcohol or drugs in her system, police said.
Police interviewed Walker at the Philadelphia State Police barracks, and she told police she drove to the “Quakertown Mall” to go to the Apple Store at 3:30 p.m. July 23, 2021, police said. She told police that she had to adjust how she drove and stopped her Jeep due to the condition of her brakes, police said.
Walker told police that she became lost after leaving the Apple Store and stopped to ask for directions home, police said. Walker believed she had been driving on I-295 and exited the roadway to get a soda around 5:10 p.m., police said. She told police she was going to stop trying to find the correct directions home and instead was going to get a hotel room, police said. Unable to find a hotel room, Walker continued to drive, police said.
Walker told police she thought she was on I-295 at the time of the crash and recalled seeing an ambulance, police said.
“I went straight and when I look up at the last second, I saw five State Troopers and men that work on the streets,” Walker told police. She knew she hit one person on the side of the road, police said, and she said she hit her brakes, but they did not work.
Walker also admitted she knew the brakes did not work and was aware of it prior to the crash, police said.
She said she thought the roadway had five lanes and that she was driving 40 mph, and that the crash scene was a fork in the road, which is why she drove on the right berm, police said.
Police said Walker had stopped at a liquor store to buy rum, opened it in her Jeep and poured some into the soda she purchased earlier. She was drinking the concoction while driving around, police said, and poured it out after the crash because “she knew it would look bad for her.”
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