A 26-year-old Irvington man died early Sunday after being struck by a vehicle near an intersection, with the driver staying put and waiting for officers to arrive. Jefferson Castellano, of Irvington, was pronounced dead at the scene just after 3 a.m.
Castellano was hit shortly after 3 a.m. at the intersection of Springfield Avenue and Franklin Terrace in Irvington, according to NJ.com. The outlet reported he was pronounced dead at the scene at 3:18 a.m. A separate account from RLS Media placed the collision near Springfield Avenue and Frederick Terrace and said the incident was reported around 3:19 a.m.; the accounts differ on the cross street and how the timing is described.
NJ.com, citing the Essex County Prosecutor's Office, reported that the driver remained nearby after the collision and waited for police. No further detail on the driver's identity, the vehicle involved, or whether any citation was issued has been made public.
Conflicting Early Accounts of the Crash
The RLS Media report described the victim as having suffered critical injuries, with emergency medical personnel preparing to pronounce the individual deceased, differing slightly from the account of an immediate scene pronouncement. That outlet also initially reported that authorities had not released the victim's identity, a detail that conflicts with the identification of Castellano reported elsewhere; it remains unclear how that discrepancy arose.
The Essex County Prosecutor's Office said the investigation remains ongoing, per the same NJ.com account. No additional information about the circumstances leading up to the crash, including where Castellano was positioned at the time, has been released.
Essex County's Pedestrian Safety Toll
Castellano's death comes against the backdrop of a county that has struggled more than any other in New Jersey with pedestrian fatalities. Essex County had the most pedestrian deaths in the state in 2025, with 25 fatalities, according to a separate NJ.com report on statewide crash trends.
That same report found New Jersey's overall traffic fatalities dropped sharply last year, with the New Jersey State Police recording 575 traffic deaths in 2025, down from 684 in 2024 — a 15% decline. Pedestrian deaths statewide fell from 230 in 2024 to 173 in 2025, the outlet reported, even as Essex County continued to lead the state in pedestrian fatalities. The New Jersey Office of the Attorney General has also pointed to a nearly 24% drop in pedestrian deaths statewide for the same period, though it cited a slightly different total of 175 fatalities in 2025.
No details have been released about charges or citations stemming from Sunday's crash, and the Essex County Prosecutor's Office has not provided further updates beyond confirming that the investigation continues.
