NJ coaches, lawmaker’s cousin, among victims ID’d in explosive crash

🚨The 2020 Dodge Charger went airborne and into a concrete highway support

🚨6 people inside the vehicle were pronounced dead at the scene

🚨Prosecutors have not disclosed where the vehicle had been or its destination

NEWARK — Authorities have identified more victims of a horrific explosive crash on Dec. 6. The crash claimed the lives of two popular Hudson County high school football coaches.

A 2022 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat driven by Lamar McKnight, 31, was traveling on Raymond Boulevard toward the southbound ramp from the Pulaski Skyway around 11:30 p.m. The Charger went airborne, hit a concrete support barrier and burst into flames as it came to rest beneath the ramp.

The investigation continues into the cause of the crash, according to Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens, II. The prosecutor did not disclose where the group was headed or where they had been.

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Victims all from Jersey City

Daryl McKnight, 29, Darnell Carr, 22, Bradley Cunningham, 41 and Veronica Bailey, 31, all of Jersey City, also died in the crash. The identity of the sixth victim is pending the results of DNA testing.

McKnight was the head football coach and physical education teacher at Hudson Catholic Regional High School. Carr was the team's assistant coach and a former Rutgers player. State Sen. Angela McKnight, D-Hudson, identified McKnight as her cousin.

A GoFundMe fundraiser to help Bailey's mother with funeral expenses identified Bailey as an aesthetician and bartender who managed her own business in the beauty care industry.

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