A New Jersey man will serve more than a decade in prison for a drunk driving crash that killed a young boy two summers ago.
In February, Edward Johnston, 25, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated manslaughter and one count of driving under the influence in Atlantic County Superior Court, completing the full indictment.
On Tuesday, Judge Joseph Levin sentenced him to 15 years in prison. The defendant will have to serve at least 12 years and nine months in prison before being eligible for parole.
However, authorities insist that the case is not over.
On the warm night of July 23, 2023, Javier “Javi” Velez, 8, died while sleeping in the backseat of his father’s car while on a fishing trip with his father and brother. The vehicle was parked far from Absecon Boulevard in Absecon, a small town less than ten miles west of Atlantic City.
While the other members of the Velez family, who were visiting from Philadelphia, fished just feet away in a creek, an out-of-control car bounded off the White Horse Pike around 3:25 a.m. and slammed into the parked car, traveling well past the road’s shoulder.
Javi had told his father, “Wake me up when we get home,” before falling asleep in the car, according to BreakingAC’s in-court testimony during the sentencing hearing.
Instead, he died instantly from the impact on Sunday night, just two weeks and one day after turning eight.
According to a press release issued by the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office, Johnston was arrested while still significantly intoxicated, with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of.122 “several hours after” the incident, and marijuana was discovered in both his system and vehicle.
The defendant, from affluent Egg Harbor City, had spent the night drinking at bars in nearby Atlantic City. He was traveling at 107 mph, 57 miles over the speed limit, when he lost control.
“Investigators believe Johnston may have been texting at the time of the collision,” the prosecutor’s office stated in the press release.
The defendant, for his part, did not flee and admitted to heavy drinking in the hours preceding the incident.
Johnston was charged with one count of aggravated manslaughter in the first degree and driving while intoxicated.
Despite the prosecution’s request for detention, the judge overseeing the case promptly granted the defendant pre-trial release. That bail decision sparked widespread public outrage—and a movement to change Garden State law.
“It is about my kid, but the main focus should be why this man is still free,” Javi’s mother, Kaylah Smith, told Philadelphia-based ABC affiliate WPVI on July 28, 2023. “He killed my child. My child is gone, and this man is free. Uninjured. That man’s car flipped upside down, and he survived, but my child died. “It is not fair.”
Local authorities and elected officials agreed, seizing on Javi’s death and introducing S-2295, which was recently unanimously approved by the state Senate Judiciary Committee.
The legislation, sponsored by New Jersey State Senator Vince Polistina, would create a presumption of pretrial detention for certain drunk drivers charged with vehicular homicide. The bill also requires driver’s license suspension and possible vehicle forfeiture if convicted.
“This heartbreaking case has exposed a critical blind spot in our justice system—one that allowed a dangerous, impaired driver to remain free after killing a child,” Atlantic County Prosecutor William Reynolds said in a statement.
“It should never take a tragedy to spark reform, but thanks to the Velez family’s courage and resilience, as well as Senator Polistina’s leadership, we are now on the path to a safer, more just system. Together, we are transforming loss into action and ensuring that law enforcement has the resources necessary to protect our communities.”