BY WALTER ELLIOTT & THOMAS ELLIS II
NEWARK – That the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office has not released the identities of the six people who died in a Dec. 6 car crash here under U.S. Route 1-9 have not kept a mother from releasing half of their names.
Natasha McKnight told reporters who attended a Dec. 7 vigil here said that sons Lamar and Darryl McKnight and passenger Brad Cunningham were killed when the car they were in crashed and burned at about 10:45 p.m. Friday. She said that neither son disabled their cell phone GPS tracker – which led her to the wreck off Raymond Boulevard and Blanchard Street which Newark police, fire and EMS were responding to.
An initial investigation had the late model four-door sedan taking the Rt. 1-9 South ramp from Raymond but had somehow left the on-ramp, became airborne and struck a pillar supporting the overhead Pulaski Skyway. The car burst into flames – which is what the first NFD units found.
Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore “Ted” Stephens II, in a Noon Dec. 9 press conference here, said that the identification release is pending dental record checks.
Lamar McKnight and Cunningham’s deaths caused Hudson Catholic Regional High School Principal Terence Matthews to cancel classes Monday but have staff and counselors on the Jersey City campus available.
L. McKnight, 41, was a first-year head coach of the Hudson Catholic Hawks football squad. He had started a quarterback camp in 2017. Cunningham, a former Rutgers football player, was McKnight’s assistant coach.
D. McKnight, 33, was recently hired by the state as a counselor. L & D McKnight were cousins of State Sen. Angela McKnight (D-Jersey City).
The players, students, and friends of the coaches had nothing but nice words to say about Coach Lamar and Coach Brad, and how they helped to shape their lives in so many ways on and off the field.
The loss was extremely hard for Natasha McKnight after losing her two sons in the horrific crash.
“I don’t want to know what happens right now. I just have to focus on the fact that I have to bury my two boys,” said Natasha McKnight.
The cause of the accident has not been determined yet, but this has hit Hudson Catholic hard, along the staff, students, family members, friends and the Jersey City community.
This was a heartbreaking way to start the holidays for so many.
