17-year-old victim killed in crash — Teen driver could avoid homicide charge

🔴Teen charged in deadly Route 1 crash offered plea deal

🔴Prosecutors offer deal dropping homicide charge for 20-year sentence

🔴17-year-old victim and her dog died at scene

WOODBRIDGE — The teen charged in the death of an Edison High School student in February, when he failed to stop for police, has been offered a plea deal.

Woodbridge police tried to pull over Mikael Salman, 18, around midnight on Feb. 19 as he drove a Nissan Maxima with New York plates on Route 1, according to Attorney General Jennifer Davenport. Instead of stopping, investigators say Salman punched the gas and accelerated at a speed “greatly in excess” of the limit.

Karla Gamero, 17, of Edison, a junior at Edison High School, was sitting in the front passenger seat of the Nissan. She was pronounced dead at the scene. A dog inside the Nissan was also killed in the crash.

The crash unfolded roughly 60 seconds after police tried to stop Salman, they said.

Police say he blew through a red light at Gill Lane and smashed into the passenger side of a Buick. A passenger in the Buick, Mark Alexich, of Hamilton in Mercer County, suffered serious injuries and was placed in an induced coma. He was released from the hospital.

Salman, who lives in the Iselin section of Woodbridge, remains hospitalized, according to Patch. The court hearing was held via video.

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Plea deal offer from the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office

The plea deal, which is not an unusual offer in many criminal cases, would drop a vehicular homicide charge in exchange for guilty pleas to aggravated assault, eluding, and animal cruelty. He would be sentenced to 20 years behind bars.

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