Grand jury upgrades charges in crash that killed TCNJ student

TRENTON — A man accused of driving while intoxicated and causing a crash that seriously injured several people and killed a college student is now in even more trouble.

A Mercer County grand jury last week handed up an indictment that tacks a more serious first-degree aggravated manslaughter charge against 23-year-old David Lamar. Previously, prosecutors had charged him with second-degree vehicular manslaughter.

Lamar is facing charges in the death of Michael Sot, a 20-year-old College of New Jersey student who was the designated driver for five of his friends that night.

The panel also indicted him on charges of second-degree death by auto, and six counts of second-degree assault by auto for the injuries suffered by Sot's friends and Lamar's passenger.

Investigators say Lamar stumbled out of the Landmark Americana, a bar on the TCNJ campus, after 1:30 a.m. on Dec. 4, with a blood-alcohol content that was three times the legal limit. Rebuffing a friend's offer to drive, Lamar got behind the wheel of his Kia Optima, investigators said. While speeding and trying to pass vehicles on Route 31, Lamar crashed head-on with a Dodge Charger driven by Sot, prosecutors said.

Michael Sot

Sot's parents have sued Lamar as well as the campus bar, which they said served a “visibly intoxicated and impaired" Lamar.

Police said Lamar told them that he had two beers, two "twisted teas" and a shot. Investigators said surveillance video shows him drinking a "fishbowl" cocktail.

After the crash, the state Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control placed new restrictions on the bar, including not selling more than one drink at a time to any customer and developing a security plan to address drunk and underage patrons.

In December, Lamar was released to home detention with his grandmother in West Windsor with electronic and alcohol monitoring.