CHARGES UPGRADED AGAINST DRIVER IN CRASH THAT KILLED 24-YEAR-OLD JERSEY CITY WOMAN ON GARFIELD AVENUE

Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez has released the following information:

Charges against the driver who killed a 24-year-old Jersey City woman Sunday on Garfield Avenue in Jersey City have been upgraded to include second-degree Death by Auto.

Bahsil Marsh, 25, of Jersey City, who is currently in custody at the Hudson County Correctional Facility, was charged Wednesday morning at approximately 8 a.m. with Death by Auto in violation of N.J.S.A.  2C:11-5a, a crime of the second degree.

Marsh was previously charged Sunday with Causing a Death While Driving with a Suspended License in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:40-22a, a crime of the third degree. He was also charged with Driving While Intoxicated, a motor vehicle violation.

On Sunday, July 26, 2020, at approximately 7:15 a.m., members of the Jersey City Police Department responded to the Jersey City Medical Center on a call of an unresponsive female being transported to the Emergency Room via private vehicle.  Responding officers determined that the 24-year-old female victim was a pedestrian when she was struck around 7 a.m. in the area of Garfield and Chapel Avenues in Jersey City.

The initial investigation by the Hudson County Regional Collision Investigation Unit and the Jersey City Police Department determined that the victim, later identified as Charnell Lytch, had been transported to the hospital in the vehicle that struck her – a 2013 Red, Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Marsh remained at the hospital and officers determined he was under the influence and driving with a suspended license. Ms. Lytch later succumbed from her injuries and was pronounced deceased at 1:48 p.m.

Prosecutor Suarez credited the Hudson County Regional Collision Investigation Unit and the Jersey City Police Department with the investigation and the arrest.

The above charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty. R.P.C.3.6(b)(6).