Teen driver faces additional charges in fatal Toms River hit-and-run

🚨A high school senior left the scene after hitting a Mercedes at 76 mph

🚨He was arrested in Seaside Heights within an hour of the crash

🚨Charges were added because of the high rate of speed

TOMS RIVER — A hit-and-run driver faces additional charges after investigators said he was traveling at 76 mph at the time of the crash that left one person dead.

Abel Mathukutty, 18, of the Lake Hiawatha section of Parsippany-Troy Hills, was driving an Infinity sedan east on Route 37 when he struck a Mercedes around 7:25 p.m. on May 24.  The impact pushed the Mercedes into a utility pole near the Thomas A. Mathis Bridge.

Mathukutty left the scene and continued over the bridge into Seaside Heights, where a police officer recognized his heavily damaged car, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said. Mathukutty was stopped and arrested.

Investigators said they later determined Mathukutty was speeding well over the 50 mph posted speed limit at the time of the crash, leading to additional charges of vehicular homicide and assault by auto charges.

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'The world is a little dimmer without her light'

The driver of the Mercedes, Deborah Barone, 59, of Toms River, was killed while her husband, Michael Barone, 64, also of Toms River, was critically injured. They had been married for 35 years, according to a Facebook post.

"Debbie’s entire life was devoted to her family—our two children and our three precious grandchildren. She was the most incredible wife, mother, and grandmother anyone could ever ask for—selfless, loving, and always putting others before herself," Michael wrote on his Facebook page. "Her loss leaves an unimaginable void in the lives of everyone who knew and loved her. The world is a little dimmer without her light, but we take comfort in knowing she is now in God’s hands."

Mathukutty is a senior at Parsippany High School where he was a member of the wrestling team during his sophomore and junior years, according to NJ.com.

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