Cream Ridge newlywed killed in car wreck on GSP
By: Cara Latham
UPPER FREEHOLD Erica Lopez-Mulligan was such a compassionate person that her husband, Brian, would once in a while catch her crying during commercials or other television programs that made her feel sad.
"She was just that type of person; she felt for others," he said of his wife of less than one month. "I would always kind of laugh at her, and she would yell at me to stop making fun of her."
But he said it wasn’t that he was making fun of her, but rather it was just that he didn’t really understand how she could have such compassion for others.
"She was just the best person I could have ever imagined marrying," he said.
But on July 15, just four days before her 23rd birthday and three weeks after the Cream Ridge couple were married, Erica Lopez-Mulligan was killed in a car crash on the Garden State Parkway, along with her 23-year-old maid of honor, Melissa Farmer, of Union Beach.
The couple were married June 22 at the Crystal Plaza in Irvington, said Mr. Mulligan, whose family owns the Cream Ridge Winery on Route 539.
Mr. Mulligan said that the day before the accident, he helped his sister move into an apartment with her husband. Then, that Saturday night, Mr. Mulligan and his wife helped with an event at the winery the couple lived in an apartment there before Ms. Lopez-Mulligan went out with her friends for a "girls’ night out."
Mr. Mulligan said the two women were on their way back to the apartment after having dropped one of their friends off in Long Branch when the accident occurred.
According to state police, Ms. Lopez-Mulligan and Ms. Farmer, were traveling southbound on the highway at 3:01 a.m. near milepost 94.8 in Wall Township, when their car, driven by Ms. Farmer, veered into a wooded area, striking a tree.
"The vehicle caught fire with both occupants entrapped," Lt. Gerald Lewis, state police spokesman said last week. Off-duty State Trooper John Oliveira, who works out of the Somerville station, and an off-duty South Bound Brook officer removed Ms. Lopez-Mulligan from the burning vehicle, and attempted to remove Ms. Farmer as well, but were unsuccessful, he added.
Ms. Farmer died at the scene, and Ms. Lopez-Mulligan was transported by the Wall Township First Aid Squad to Jersey Shore Medical Center where she later died, Lt. Lewis said. The accident is still under investigation.
The couple had met through Mr. Mulligan’s sister, Karen, even though the couple both graduated from the same high school. Mr. Mulligan said she graduated from Lawrence High School two years after he did, but that the two weren’t friends during high school.
He later met her after his sister became friends with her when they were taking classes at Mercer County Community College.
"About two years ago, we just got together, and it went from there," he said.
Ms. Lopez-Mulligan, who was born in Jersey City, would have turned 23 on July 19. It was through living in Union Beach as a child that she became friends with Ms. Farmer, Eileen Amabile (Mr. Mulligan’s mother) said.
Mr. Mulligan also recalled how his wife began to like dogs, after first vowing to never own any.
"For my birthday last year, I wanted a dog, and she was living with me at the time," he said. "She really didn’t want one, but kind of allowed me to get one. We ended up getting a boxer and named her Lucy."
It was after then than she wanted another, little dog, and the couple purchased a miniature American Eskimo in January.
"That was her little dog," he said. "She kind of turned into a dog person, even though she said she was never going to have dogs."
Mr. Mulligan also said his wife was always there for her friends and family and co-workers.
Eileen Amabile, Mr. Mulligan’s mother, echoed this sentiment.
"She was just a very sweet person, and she would do anything for anyone," she said. "She always put other people first."
Ms. Lopez-Mulligan was a secretary at AC dental in Hamilton. Mr. Mulligan said she was planning on becoming a dental hygienist.
"I loved her more than anything," he said. "It breaks my heart everyday not to have her with me. She’s in a better place, so I can at least be happy about that."