Woman 'Fiercely Loved And Believed In You', Family Says Of Toms River Crash Victim

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Toms River woman is being remembered by family and friends for the way she loved and showed up for the people in her life, as the crash on Hooper Avenue that killed her and a second woman remains under investigation.

Ashli Crespo Galanos, 28, and Vanessa Orozco-Carbarcas, 36, both of Toms River, died in the crash that happened about 8:45 p.m. on Sept. 11, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said Thursday. A man and a 4-year-old boy who were injured have been released from the hospital, the prosecutor's office said. Their names were not released.

Galanos was driving a 2025 Toyota Rav4 north on Hooper Avenue when a 2016 Chevrolet Equinox that was headed south on Hooper Avenue crossed over the grass median and hit her Toyota, the prosecutor's office said. Her Toyota rolled over and came to rest in the woods on the east side of Hooper Avenue, and she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Orozco-Carbarcas was a passenger in the Equinox, which was being driven by the 46-year-old man, and was taken to Community Medical Center in Toms River, where she was pronounced dead, the prosecutor's office said. The boy was a back-seat passenger in the Equinox, a spokesman said.

Galanos was being remembered by her family for "her heart, her infectious smile, her booming laugh, her unwavering loyalty and the way she loved and showed up for all those she loved and cared for," according to her obituary on the Timothy E. Ryan Home for Funerals website.

"The thing Ashli will be most remembered for though is her love," her obituary said. "Her ability to make you feel like you could accomplish anything, just because of how fiercely she loved and believed in you. She was the biggest cheerleader one could hope to have on their team."

"You were my everything, my world, my best friend," her husband, Andrew Galanos, wrote in a tribute on Instagram. "Your passion to live life to the fullest was only a small part of why I love and chose you to be my wife."

The couple had been together for eight years, but married less than a year.

"Not seeing you every day is going to be one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to go through," he wrote. "This is not fair. Next week we were supposed to be in Seattle, exploring more national parks and celebrating our anniversary."

"In 8 years we have done nothing but grow, explore & learn to love each other. In 8 short (some very long) years you became my end game," he wrote. "The most beautiful girl in the world was mine."

Galanos graduated from Toms River High School North and earned her cosmetology license at Paul Mitchell Jersey Shore. She reveled in being a makeup artist and hair stylist at Wild Honey Hair Salon who "held close to her heart that she got to be the professional to make her clients and friends feel their most beautiful and authentic selves," her obituary said. The salon had created a GoFundMe campaign to help the family with her funeral expenses.

In addition to her husband, she is survived by her parents, a brother and a sister, and other extended family, according to her obituary.

The GoFundMe campaign had raised nearly $30,000 as of Thursday afternoon.