Driver In Fatal Hit-And-Run Sentenced In Morris County

MORRIS COUNTY, NJ — A taxi driver has been sentenced to state prison after admitting that he hit a man with his car in Morristown and left him for dead earlier this summer, authorities said.

Jermaine Edwards, 51, formerly of Morristown, has been sentenced to five years in state prison, according to a release from the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office.

Edwards will also have his license suspended for five years once he is released from prison, officials said.

Edwards, who was not certified to drive a taxi, hit Francis Alvarado-Trejo, 40, of Morristown with his vehicle shortly after 9 p.m. on Aug. 12, while Alvarado-Trejo was walking in the area of Lafayette Avenue and Lackawanna Place, police said.

Police arrived at the scene shortly after, where they determined that Edwards had left the scene, leaving Alvarado-Trejo with fatal injuries in the roadway.

Two days later, Edwards was identified as the driver and arrested and charged with one count of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, according to officials.

Prosecutors say he pleaded guilty to that offense on Oct. 18.

Edwards was charged with one count of second-degree leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death. Since his arrest, he has been held at the Morris County Correctional Facility, police said.

The hit-and-run prompted Morristown officials to remove the local taxi company's license indefinitely. The Morristown council voted 5-0, during a special meeting, to ban Enslin's LLC/G&S Car Service from operating, citing a significant list of breaches and a long "list of un-permitted drivers."

George Enslin, the company owner, told the council that he felt terrible about the incident but that he knew Edwards' mother and that Edwards had been through "some tough times years ago," which included charges on his record.

"I made a poor decision, but it's not going to happen again. I have no defense of what I did; it happened," Enslin said.