Man Charged In Crash That Killed Teaneck Family Pleads Guilty

TEANECK, NJ — The driver of a pickup truck who crashed into a car last summer and killed five members of a township family pleaded guilty Wednesday to several charges filed against him.

Alvin S. Hubbard pleaded guilty to five counts of operation of a motor vehicle causing death and three counts of vehicular assault, Carl Kanefsky, a spokesperson with the Delaware Department of Justice confirmed Wednesday afternoon.

Hubbard faces up to 14 years in prison and a $3,450 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for September, NorthJersey.com reported.

Hubbard was indicted in November on five counts of second-degree vehicular homicide, three counts of second-degree vehicular assault, inattentive driving, driving across a median, and failure to obey a traffic device.

An investigation found no evidence that drugs or alcohol played a part in the crash, Julia Lawes, a Delaware Department of Justice spokesperson previously said.

Six members of the Trinidad family were in the minivan. Five died: Father Audie Trinidad, 61, and daughters Kaitlyn, 20, Danna, 17, and 13-year-old twins, Melissa and Allison.

Wife and mother Mary Rose Ballocoanag is the only one who survived. She was seriously injured, suffering many fractured and broken bones.

At a press conference in July, Ballocoanag said she wants "justice" for her family.

"I want justice for them. I want to see him [Hubbard] criminally prosecuted. All my broken bones will heal but not the unbearable pain in my heart," Ballocoanag previously said. "When they died, part of me died. Justice will not bring them back, but we will be in a safer place. I know Audie is with them, and he will take care of my girls. I miss them so much. Now that they are all gone I have nothing to look forward to but justice for them."

The crash happened at 3:47 p.m. on Route 1 in Townsend, Delaware on July 6 when the Ford F-350 pickup truck Hubbard was driving in the left-hand lane crossed a grassy center median and hit the family's minivan and a Mercury Sable, police said. The family was returning home from a vacation.

Brian Kern, the driver of the Mercury Sable, and a passenger inside Hubbard's truck survived the crash, ABC7 reported. Kern said the crash site looked like "a war scene."

Kaitlyn Trinidad's friends created a scholarship in her memory at the College of Mount Saint Vincent in Bronx, New York where she was studying to become a nurse, like her mother.

"Kat could always make you smile," said Danielle Carlin, who was friends with Trinidad since her freshman year. "Right from the start, she recalled, Kaitlyn was vivacious and encouraging—she wanted everyone around her to succeed."

Related:

• Wrong-Way Driver ID'd In Delaware Crash Where 5 In NJ Family Died
• Driver Indicted In Wrong-Way Crash Death Of Teaneck Family
• Scholarship Created In Memory Of Teaneck Woman Killed In Crash

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com