A former Swedesboro substitute teacher has permanently lost his New Jersey educator credentials after a drunk-driving crash that killed a 62-year-old bicyclist in Upper Pittsgrove more than two years ago. Deandra L. Brown-Palmer, now 46, is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence for the July 2024 crash that killed Douglas W. Nutt, a resident of Upper Pittsgrove.
The New Jersey Department of Education's State Board of Examiners revoked Brown-Palmer's educator credentials and ordered him to surrender his instructional substitute credential, according to the Courier-Post. The board's action stems from its statutory authority under New Jersey Administrative Code sections that let the state suspend or revoke educator credentials for conduct unbecoming or upon notice of a criminal conviction, according to Cornell Law School's regulations database. New Jersey credentialed educators are also required to report any arrest or indictment to their school district superintendent within 14 calendar days; superintendents must notify the state board only under specific circumstances, per regulations cited by Strauss Esmay Associates.
A Fatal Night on Shirley Road
Nutt died at the scene on Shirley Road around 7 p.m. on July 2, 2024, after being struck while riding on the eastbound shoulder, according to Daily Voice. New Jersey State Police affidavits say Brown-Palmer was driving a Toyota Corolla westbound when he crossed into the eastbound shoulder to pass a vehicle in front of him, striking the cyclist. The outlet's reporting, drawn from those same police papers, described a crash that unfolded in seconds but set off a chaotic pursuit through the small Salem County community.
Court and police records show that after hitting Nutt, Brown-Palmer kept driving westbound, then made a U-turn back through the crash scene without stopping, according to filings reviewed by New Jersey Courts records. He ignored an Elmer police vehicle's lights and sirens and was only brought to a stop when a local fire truck driver parked across the road to block him, the same court filings indicate. Officers who approached the vehicle then discovered a 3-year-old child in the rear seat, according to those records.
Blood Alcohol Nearly Triple the Legal Limit
Legal filings state that Brown-Palmer's blood alcohol content measured 0.22 percent that night, nearly triple New Jersey's 0.08 percent legal limit. He admitted to police that he had consumed five or six shots of alcohol and smoked marijuana roughly 30 minutes before getting behind the wheel, per the same court records. State Police originally charged him with second-degree reckless death by auto, knowingly leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, eluding police, and child endangerment, the Daily Voice reported at the time.
In October 2024, Brown-Palmer pleaded guilty to second-degree death by auto and driving while intoxicated. He was sentenced that December by Superior Court Judge Michael Silvanio to seven years in prison, with a requirement to serve 85 percent of the term before becoming eligible for parole, court records show.
Part of a Statewide Surge in Road Deaths
The case adds to a grim statewide trend. New Jersey State Police crash data show 252 pedestrians and bicyclists died on the state's roads in 2024, a 27 percent jump from the 199 vulnerable road user fatalities recorded in 2023, according to the NJ Bicycle and Pedestrian Resource Center. That spike helped prompt the state to establish its Target Zero Commission in 2025 to address rising road deaths, the group notes.
For Nutt's family and the Upper Pittsgrove community, the credential revocation closes one of the last remaining threads in a case that has already run its course through Salem County Superior Court. Brown-Palmer remains incarcerated under the seven-year sentence handed down in December 2024.
