A mother and her grown daughter were arrested Tuesday for their roles in an auto crash that killed a motorcyclist in New Jersey last fall, prosecutors said Wednesday.
The daughter, 47-year-old Shaneeka Croom of Newark, was charged with causing death while driving with a suspended license, false reporting, obstruction and hindering.
Her mother, Elnoria Croom-Lundy, 65, also of Newark, lied to police and said she had been driving, the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement. She was charged with obstruction and hindering.
Together they’re deemed responsible for colliding with a motorcycle driven by Steven Brown, 43, of Jersey City. The accident happened shortly before 9 a.m. on Oct. 31, near Sip Avenue and Routes 1 and 9, authorities said at the time. Brown died about an hour later at Jersey City Medical Center.
Croom told police that she’d been a passenger in the GMC that struck Brown. Her mother backed her up and claimed she was the driver, but investigators later learned that Croom-Lundy had only arrived to the scene after the crash.
“The investigation determined Shaneeka Croom was the operator of the vehicle and Elnoria Croom-Lundy was not present at the time of the collision,” the prosecutor’s office said.
Following their arrest on Tuesday, the mother and daughter were released pending a court appearance.