The tragic deaths of a mother and her 11-year-old daughter in Ocean County is making national news. Republican gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli responded by reiterating that he will immediately move to end “Sanctuary Statehood” in the Garden State if elected in November.
“ON DAY ONE. The illegal whose drunk driving recently killed a mother and daughter had been previously arrested THREE times. But because of New Jersey’s Immigrant Trust Directive (aka sanctuary state policy), which my opponent Mikie Sherrill supports, he wasn’t turned over by local police to ICE,” opined Ciattarelli on his X page. “On DAY ONE of my governorship I will end NJ’s sanctuary city and state policy. I will replace it with a Community Trust Directive that would require local police to report any and all arrests of illegals to ICE immediately while directing county prosecutors to seek detention, giving ICE the opportunity to take them into custody. IT’S TIME.”
In case you missed it, here’s the release from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office:
On July 26, 2025, at approximately 11:20 p.m., Officers from the Lakewood Township Police Department responded to the intersection of Cross Street and Hearthstone Drive for a report of a motor vehicle crash with serious injuries. A subsequent investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit-Vehicular Homicide Squad, Lakewood Township Police and Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, revealed that a Dodge Durango – being operated by Luna-Perez and containing two passengers – was traveling eastbound on Cross Street when it crossed into the oncoming lane of traffic and collided head on with a Nissan Sentra. The female driver of the Nissan Sentra was pronounced deceased at the scene. An 11 year-old female front seat passenger was transported to Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus in Lakewood where she succumbed to her injuries. Another 11 year-old female passenger, who was seated in the rear of the vehicle, was likewise transported to Monmouth Medical Center and is listed in serious but stable condition. The two passengers of the Dodge Durango were transported to Jersey Shore University Medical Center (JSUMC) in Neptune for treatment of minor injuries and released.
First Responders at the scene detected that Luna-Perez showed signs of impairment. In furtherance of the investigation, Luna-Perez was transported to JSUMC where a draw of his blood was obtained pursuant to a court-authorized warrant. The results of the blood draw remain pending. Luna-Perez was transported to the Ocean County Jail where he is presently lodged pending a detention hearing.
New Jersey became a “sanctuary” jurisdiction – one which bars its state and local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities – as a result of then-Murphy Attorney General Gurbir Grewal’s November 2018 directive.
The U.S. Department of Justice recently singled out four New Jersey cities as sanctuary jurisdictions: Newark, Jersey City, Paterson and Hoboken.
