Home detention ordered for driver accused of killing TCNJ student

TRENTON — The man accused of killing a college student and seriously injuring several others in a drunken car crash has been released from jail as he awaits trial on vehicular homicide and assault by auto charges.

Superior Court Judge Anthony M. Massi, sitting in Trenton, released David Lamar V, 22, of West Windsor, with conditions. He must surrender his license and is confined to home detention with electronic monitoring and alcohol monitoring through a remote breath device that he must pay for.

During a hearing on Tuesday, the prosecution argued for Lamar to remain at the Mercer County Correctional Center claiming he is a flight risk, saying that he left a Pennsylvania hospital after the crash without telling anyone. As a result, U.S. Marshals had to search for him.

His attorney, Robin Lord, argued that Lamar was heavily medicated. She said Lamar checked into a hospital in New Jersey before being transferred to jail.

Lord also presented Massi with 18 letters of recommendation presenting Lamar as a responsible member of the community. He lives with his grandmother in West Windsor. Lamar is employed but where he works was not mentioned during the hearing.

Prosecutors said Lamar passed a car heading south on Route 31 around 2 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 4, and crossed into the northbound lanes hitting a 2017 Dodge Charger driven by College of New Jersey sophomore Michael Sot, 20, from Clark.

During the detention hearing, prosecutors said Lamar drank for three hours at the Landmark Americana restaurant at Campus Town on the TCNJ campus and was caught on video "staggering" out of the bar. Investigators say his blood alcohol level was three times the legal limit.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ