Deja Farrior, 22, was killed when a car fleeing police in Trenton crashed into her car at a Hamilton intersection
HAMILTON -- A 22-year-old woman was killed Monday night when an Ocean County man who had been leading State Police on a chase ran a red light and t-boned her car, authorities said.
Deja Farrior, whose car was pinned against a telephone pole, was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Dozens of family members and friends gathered in mourning outside her house on South Olden Avenue Tuesday morning.
"She was my everything," her father, Terence Farrior, said. "She was Daddy's little girl."
A preliminary investigation by the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office found that just before 10 p.m., the State Police's Crime Suppression Unit was conducting a narcotics investigation in Trenton.
After seeing what appeared to be a drug deal, they attempted to pull over a gray Chevy Trailblazer, but the SUV sped off, authorities said. Police gave chase into neighboring Hamilton with their lights and sirens on.
The officers ended the pursuit in the area of Whitehorse Circle as the driver continued north on South Broad Street, Acting Prosecutor Angelo Onofri said.
The Trailblazer then ran a red light at the intersection of South Broad Street and Park Avenue, hitting a black Honda Civic driven by Farrior, who was turning left onto Park Avenue, authorities said.
Her car was struck in the passenger side door and forced into a telephone pole.
The driver of the Trailblazer, later identified as 22-year-old Chandler Heaviside, got out and fled on foot, but was apprehended by police. He was found to have heroin on him.
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The two passengers -- Lawrence Sears, 28, of Manchester, and Harry Remington III, 25, of Brick -- are also facing drug possession charges after a bundle of heroin was found on the car floorboard, authorities said.
Heaviside, who lives in Jackson, was charged with drug possession, death by auto while under the influence of a controlled dangerous substance, leaving the scene of an accident involving death, causing death while driving with a suspended license, assault by auto and eluding.
Heaviside was released from Ocean County Jail on Feb. 29 after serving seven months for a felony heroin charge stemming from a October 2013 arrest in Jackson, the corrections department confirmed.
He was also arrested in April 2014 on heroin and drug paraphernalia charges after police found him and another man passed out in a car that had struck a concrete partition at the gas pumps at a Wawa. Heaviside was the passenger.
Monday's incident is being investigated by the prosecutor's office's Serious Collision Response Team, Hamilton police and State Police.
Staff writer Kevin Shea contributed to this report.
Cristina Rojas may be reached at crojas@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @CristinaRojasTT. Find NJ.com on Facebook.