A photo of the crash scene.
Credit: Submitted
A New Jersey teenager has been found adjudicated delinquent on charges of homicide by vehicle and related offenses after a fatal crash on I-95 last year.
The teenager – identified by NJ.com as LeAnn Manochio, 18, of Bloomfield, New Jersey, had a number of restrictions and rehabilitative conditions placed on her following a Thursday hearing in Bucks County Juvenile Court, according to the district attorney’s office.
Judge Jeffrey Finley put Manochio on indefinite probation and ordered her to perform 250 hours of community service, write letters of apology to all victims of the crash and pay $13,503 in restitution. She is also required to continue to work, write an essay on dangerous driving and undergo mental health therapy.
Being found adjudicated delinquent is the equivalent of a guilty verdict for an adult, the district attorney’s office said in a press release.
Manochio, who was 17 when the fatal crash on I-95 in Lower Makefield happened, was found adjudicated delinquent in connection with the death of her 20-year-old friend, Natasha Bellott, who had just auditioned for the popular Fox TV show “American Idol.”
Natasha Bellott before the crash.
Bellott was killed in the violent August 2015 crash that was caused when a distracted Manochio, who was driving 15 miles above the speed limit, lost control of the SUV and overturned into the grassy median. Three other people in the car were injured.
Bellott was heading back to New Jersey from “American Idol” auditions at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia when the crash happened. Police told NBC 10 Bellott had her “American Idol” ticket in her pocket at the time of the crash.
Bellott’s friends and family submitted victim impact statements describing the aspiring singer killed by Bellott’s actions.
