South Amboy Man Admits Leaving Scene Of Fatal Pedestrian Strike, Killing Woman

SOUTH AMBOY, NJ — A 21-year-old South Amboy man who hit a woman while she was out jogging in Brick Township in January 2024 — he fled the scene, and she later died — pleaded guilty this week.

Mark Carey, Jr. pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of knowingly leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident resulting in the death of another, according to Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer. He will be sentenced June 13, at which time prosecutors will ask for six years in prison.

At 9 a.m. on Jan. 13, 2024, a Saturday, he hit a woman with his 1999 Ford Explorer, and then fled. Carey was 19 at the time. Julia Sutton, 56, was jogging on the side of Rt. 35 in Brick.

She worked as a health/wellness entrepreneur and was the married mother of four children at the time of her death, according to her obituary.

This happened on Rt. 35 south near Bay Boulevard. Sutton was jogging in the shoulder of the highway. She was taken to Ocean University Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.

Brick Police identified Carey as the driver of the car, which was registered to him, and he was arrested the next day at his parents' home in South Amboy.

Sutton was a fitness entrepreneur who co-founded Exhale, a health and well-being brand based in New York City, according to her biography on this Boutique Fitness Solutions website.

Contact this Patch reporter: Carly.baldwin@patch.com