Doctors recommend the transfer of teen.
By: Joseph Harvie
A South Brunswick High School junior charged in the death of his friend in a car crash law enforcement authorities say was intentional is being held at an unnamed psychiatric facility, according to Assistant Middlesex County Prosecutor Nicholas Sewitch.
The teen, who Mr. Sewitch would not name, has been at the facility for about two weeks, having been moved there after recovering from injuries sustained in the accident.
The crash killed 15-year-old Richard VonDeesten. According to Mr. Sewitch, the two teens intentionally crashed a Ford Taurus into a utility pole on Route 1 shortly before 4 a.m. on Dec. 20.
South Brunswick Schools Superintendent Gary McCartney identified the driver as 16-year-old Joshua Aanestad.
Mr. Sewitch said the 16-year-old driver had been transferred to a secure psychiatric facility where he will remain until ordered otherwise.
According to Mr. Sewitch, the driver was transferred from Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick to the psychiatric facility on the recommendation of his doctors. Mr. Sewitch would not say why the doctors made the recommendation or comment on his condition. Hospital officials would not release the extent of the teen’s injuries, because his parents requested that the information not be released.
Mr. Sewitch said he would not release the name of the facility.
According to police, the driver intentionally drove his mother’s 1993 Ford Taurus into a utility pole on the southbound side of Route 1 between Henderson Road and Deans Lane on Dec. 20 shortly before 4 a.m. Police said the teens were traveling north on the highway at excessive speeds when the driver veered through a break in the median at Deans Lane and hit the pole. The car split in two and the driver was ejected.
The front-seat passenger, Richard, killed in the crash.
Police said the crash was intentional and was the result of a suicide pact between Richard and the driver. The driver was charged with juvenile delinquency for a criminal offense that would constitute murder if tried as an adult. Mr. Sewitch has not decided whether the teen will be tried as an adult or juvenile.
The driver had been kept under armed guard by members of the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Department while at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. He is no longer under armed guard by the Sheriff’s Department because the new location is considered a secure facility.
Joshua will be re-evaluated before being released from the psychiatric facility. If he is released, he could be moved to the Middlesex County Juvenile Detention Center in North Brunswick but only after a probable cause hearing in the Family Division of Superior Court. Mr. Sewitch said probable cause must be found by a judge before a minor can be sent to a detention facility.
Toxicology tests were performed on both teens, but results were not back, said Mr. Sewitch. He said is not sure when results will be available.

