$1.1M For Westfield Family Of Teen Fatally Hit By Cop

WESTFIELD, NJ — Five years after a 14-year-old Westfield High School student was killed in a car crash involving an off-duty State Trooper, a settlement has been reached.

The New Jersey Turnpike Authority approved a settlement of $1.1 million to the family of Terry DiFalco who was killed on March 4, 2017. According to the memo released by the NJTA, Westfield Board of Education will pay $100,000 of the settlement.

DiFalco was participating in a theater program scavenger hunt, which was sponsored by the school, at the time of the crash.

According to the memo, the off-duty Trooper — Alexander Gelfand — was driving on Central Avenue in Westfield when DiFalco dashed across the roadway and was fatally struck.

While no criminal charges were filed against the trooper, the family later filed a lawsuit against him, the state police and the Board of Education, since the kids were participating in a school-sponsored program when DiFalco was hit.

The lawsuit also claimed Gelfand was texting at the time of the crash.

In Feb. of 2020, members of the Westfield community and friends of the DiFalco family proposed a garden and library to be built in DiFalco's honor in Sycamore Park.

According to the proposal, DiFalco grew up in the Manor Park neighborhood on the South Side of Westfield. As a little girl, she was known to make many trips to the Sycamore field playground with her parents Maureen and Frank and her sister Allie.

Read more: Westfield Teens Propose Garden For Girl Killed By Trooper's Car

The NJTA’s board approved the settlement by a unanimous vote, according to a spokesperson who spoke to Tapinto Westfield.

Related: N.J. Mother Pens Her Grief After Local Teen Is Killed By State Trooper Vehicle

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