A man from Trenton has been charged for allegedly killing a New Jersey Turnpike service plaza worker early Thursday morning.

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State troopers say 23-year-old Dandre L. McDaniels, Jr., is facing murder and weapon-related offences for stabbing 22-year-old Jamyra C. Odom, also of Trenton, multiple times and then hitting her with his SUV at the Woodrow Wilson Service Area in Hamilton Township, Mercer County.

The scene unfolded just after 3 AM Thursday when troopers responded to the report of a woman laying on the ground in an employee parking lot.

There, Odom had sustained serious injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.

NJ Turnpike deadly crash car truck Sunday Westhampton (NJ Turnpike Authority, Canva)
(NJ Turnpike Authority, Canva)
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Detectives say they established a sequence of events and identified a white SUV as a potential suspect vehicle, which they found in front of Capital Health Systems Fuld Campus in Trenton and McDaniels was inside the emergency room receiving treatment for lacerations to his hands.

Authorities say,

  • McDaniels arrived at the Woodrow Wilson Service Area employee parking lot in the white SUV and stabbed Odom multiple times after she exited the Burger King, where she was working.
  • McDaniels then allegedly struck her with the vehicle as he fled the scene.
  • As a result of the investigation, it was determined that McDaniels and Odom knew each other prior to the confrontation.

McDaniels is currently being held in the Mercer County Correctional Center.

The public is reminded that charges are accusations and all persons are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

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