Baby, 2 women killed in head-on collision, police say

LITTLE EGG HARBOR — A Tuckerton mother, her 6-month old daughter and another woman were killed in a head-on crash Saturday evening.

Authorities say Shannon Tomkins was heading eastbound on Route 539 at about 8:53 p.m. with her two children — a 5-year-old boy and a 6-month old girl. Ocean County Prosecutor's Office spokesperson Al DellaFave said at one point, Tomkins 2001 Mercury Cougar "failed to maintain its lane" and crossed the center line. The vehicle then struck a 2002 Honda CRV, driven by Nora Magnani of Langhorne, Pa, that has been heading westbound.

As a result of the crash, police say, Tomkins and Magnani suffered fatal injuries and were pronounced dead at the scene at 10:16 p.m. Tomkins' baby girl was transported to Southern Ocean Medical Center in Manahawkin where she was pronounced dead at 9:43 p.m., DellaFave said.

Magnani's passenger, Andrea Pallanollo, 65, also of Langhonrne, and Tomkins 5-year-old son, were transported to a local hospital where they were listed in critical, but stable condition.

DellaFave say preliminary investigations show that all of the passengers had been wearing seat belts. Authorities are awaiting the results of toxicology tests to see if drugs or alcohol were involved, but at the present time, it does not appear to have been a factor in the crash.

"From what we can tell, all occupants were wearing their restraints and at this time, alcohol is not a factor," DellaFave said.

Toniann Antonelli is a social content producer for NJ 101.5. She can be reached at toniann.antonelli@townsquaremedia.com, or on Twitter @ToniRadio1015.

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