Fitness Entrepreneur Identified As Victim In Fatal Route 35 Hit-And-Run In Ocean County

BRICK, NJ — A Hudson County woman has been identified as the victim of a fatal hit-and-run on Route 35 in Brick on Jan. 13.

Julia Sutton, 56, of Weehawken, was struck and killed while she was in the shoulder of Route 35, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

Sutton was a fitness entrepreneur who co-founded Exhale, a wellbeing brand based in New York, according to her biography on the Boutique Fitness Solutions website, which offers mentorship for people starting out. She was the chief growth officer for Vitruvia. She completed the OPM program at Harvard Business School and was a member of the COO network, American College of Sports Medicine and HBS Club of New York. She was serving on the Manhattan College O’Malley School of Business Advisory Board.

Sutton also was married and had four children, according to her obituary on the Becker Funeral Home website.

Mark Carey, Jr., 19, of South Amboy, was arrested Jan. 14 at his home, Billhimer previously announced. He is charged with knowingly leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident resulting in the death of another in the crash on Route 35 south near Bay Boulevard that was reported about 9:15 a.m. on Jan. 13, authorites said.

Brick Township police responded and Sutton was taken to Ocean University Medical Center in Brick, where she was pronounced dead, the prosecutor's office said.

Authorities determined she had been hit by a 1999 Ford Explorer registered to Carey, and the investigation found Carey was driving it at the time Sutton was hit, the prosecutor's office said.

Carey remains in the Ocean County Jail pending a detention hearing.