Man pleads guilty in drunk driving crash that killed 8-year-old boy

MAYS LANDING, N.J. - Absecon police say on July 23, 2023, Javier Velez was asleep in a car while his father packed up to head back home to Philadelphia after a fishing trip.

Investigators say 25-year-old Edward Johnston, of Egg Harbor City, went off the road on White Horse Pike and hit the car Javier was in parked on the shoulder.

What they're saying:

 "It's kind of like relief. Like finally," said Kayla Smith. She says she can finally begin to properly grieve the loss of her son Javier Velez. A year and seven months after he was taken from her there was a major development in court last week.

"He finally decided to plead guilty to 15 years," said about Edward Johnston, the man who investigators say was drunk and speeding when he went off the road and crashed into the car 8-year-old Javier was in, causing his death.

Related

article

'He made us a family': Vigil held for Logan boy killed on fishing trip with father, younger brother

The Logan community is wrapping their arms around a family who lost their 8-year-old son and brother when a driver plowed into their parked car. A vigil was held Wednesday night as the parents shared memories of Javier Velez.

The backstory:

Javi, his younger brother Jerry and their dad Orlando were packing up to head home to Philly after a father-son fishing trip in Absecon, New Jersey when it happened.

"15 years is not enough. But I also feel like if they told us 20 years, we would still feel that way," said Smith. It has been a long road to justice. Smith worked to get legislators to draft a bill to be named for her son that would include keeping a defendant in jail pre-trial.

Johnston has largely remained out of jail during the court process. The bill passed the senate and will go to the governor to be signed into law.

MORE RELATED COVERAGE: 

• Philly family protest in Atlantic County to keep man charged in son’s death in jail
• Driver crashes into parked car in Absecon, killing 8-year-old child sleeping inside, police say

Big picture view:

"I've done protests, I've put up billboards, I've had a banner in the sky on an airplane. I have done everything I possibly can. It is like this is where the end of the road brought us, so it is like we just have to accept it," said Smith. Meanwhile, she wears Javito, as family members lovingly call him, around her neck and in tattoos on her body, and she says her two younger sons will know all about him.

"That's what matters to me is that no matter what. His name will be known. His story will be told," said Smith about her son. She wants this precious face to serve as a reminder to save lives.

"Encourage others to not drink and drive because it's a very real thing that happens way too often and no one cares about it until it's them or their loved ones," she said. "There will never be a moment where we will move on. There will never be a moment when we can let it go. It is something that, unfortunately, we have to carry on the back of our shoulders forever," said Smith.

What's next:

Smith says Johnston will be sentenced May 13th.