On May 9, 2021, Officers of the Brick Township Police Department responded to a serious motor vehicle crash with injuries, which took place in the intersection of Lanes Mill Road and Greenwood Loop. After an investigation was conducted, Officers determined that a 2011 Toyota Camry traveling southwest on Lanes Mill Road, crossed the center line of the roadway and collided head-on with a 2014 Dodge Caravan.
The Officers discovered that Ashley Watkins, 32 was the owner of the 2011 Toyota Camry. As result of the serious accident, the Driver of the Dodge Caravan, Terry Penrod, sustained a broken leg. Unfortunately, his wife, Nancy Penrod, who was the passenger at the time, sustained serious bodily injury. Both were taken to the Ocean Medical Center for treatment. Upon arrival, due to the serious bodily injury Nancy Penrod sustained, she was pronounced deceased.
Watkins sustained minor injuries from the crash and was taken to the Ocean Medical Center for treatment. At the time of her treatment, Watkins consented to a draw of her blood, which later resulted in the presence of fentanyl, diphenhydramine (Benadryl), and marijuana in her blood stream. On June 4, 2021, Detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Vehicular Homicide Unit and Officers from the Brick Township Police Departmentarrested Watkins at her residence without incident. Watkins was transported to the Ocean County Jail, and later released because of the New Jersey Bail Reform.
On December 1, 2023, the Honorable Guy P. Ryan sentenced Watkins to five years in the New Jersey State Prison, as the result of her pleading guilty to Vehicular Homicide. The sentence is subject to the terms of the No Early Release Act, which requires Watkin to serve 85 percent of her sentence before she is eligible for parole. Judge Ryan also suspended Watkins’s license for seven months for her guilty plea of Driving While Intoxicated.
The State was represented by Assistant Prosecutor Shanon Chant-Berry
Ashley Watkins was represented by attorney Marik A. Bailey
