Prosecutor Won't Appeal 5-Year Term For Man Who Killed Woodbridge Mom

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone said she has no plans to appeal a five-year prison sentence given to a man who hit a Woodbridge woman with his car, killing her, and then fled the scene last August.

The family of the woman, Fords resident Kristen Bruschi, 45, say the prison sentence is too short.

The man who killed her is Antonio Rivera, 23, also of Woodbridge. He was convicted of hitting Bruschi with his Mustang as she walked her bike home from the Woodbridge Wegmans at 5:39 p.m. Aug. 31, 2023. He then fled the scene and filed a false police report to say his Mustang had been stolen that night.

The Medical Examiner deemed Bruschi's death an accident.

On June 3, Middlesex County Superior Court Judge Craig Corson sentenced Rivera to five years in state prison for the crime. Also, Rivera can be released early — before five years — for good behavior, as the crime of leaving a fatal accident is not subject to the No Early Release Act.

"We cannot speak on behalf of Judge Corson; however, we do not have any response other than we recognize the seriousness of the offense and the impact it had on the family," said a spokeswoman for Prosecutor Ciccone this week. "We are bound by and respect the trial court’s decision, and do not see a legal basis to appeal the decision."

Patch tried to contact Judge Corson this week to ask if he will explain his reasoning for sentencing Rivera to five years.

He did not get back to us, but MaryAnn Spoto, a spokeswoman for the New Jersey court system did, and she said, "the canons of the court’s judicial ethics do not allow judges to discuss cases they have handled."

At sentencing, Rivera spoke in front of the judge, as did his mother and his employer, Scott's Towing in Woodbridge. Their testimony convinced Corson to reduce the sentence to five years.

Prosecutor Ciccone did acknowledge Corson sentenced Rivera "at the lower end" of the possible prison time he could serve.

"The defendant does have a right to have people speak on his behalf at sentencing, as does the state," said Ciccone. "The trial judge has to qualitatively evaluate aggravating factors and mitigating factors to determine whether it is appropriate to depart from the recommended sentence to a lower sentence. Here, the judge sentenced the defendant at the lower end of the range – five years in prison."

Prior reporting on the death of Kristen Bruschi: 'Justice System Failed Us:' Family Of Woodbridge Woman Killed In Hit-And-Run (June 2024)

Woodbridge Single Mother Hit, Killed By Car Outside Wegmans