Driver Charged In Fatal Evesham Collision

May 27, 2009 9:36 pm US/Eastern EVESHAM, N.J. Investigators in Burlington County have charged a man in connection to a fatal collision.

[better choices]

What really sucks here is that this 1 bad choice has destroyed the lives of two decent young men.

[chsgrad08]

better choices wrote:

What really sucks here is that this 1 bad choice has destroyed the lives of two decent young men.

http://blogs.phillyburbs.com/news/bct/update-...

now we've found out there have been multiple choices by tom thorn. rest in peace shawn

[doozer]

Obviously Mr. Thorn is not and has not been a decent young man! His life should be spent pondering his blatant disregard for life and the law in a empty cold cell!

[better choices]

doozer wrote:

Obviously Mr. Thorn is not and has not been a decent young man! His life should be spent pondering his blatant disregard for life and the law in a empty cold cell!

I guess you are perfect and never did any wrong. You are all acting as if this were an intentional act. I am quite sure that is wasn't. I know a good deal of young people who have a pile of prior tickets that are rediculous and it doesn't mean that they have a blatant disregard for life and the law. It is unfortunate and yes I believe he needs to pay for what he has done, but within reason. I suppose you would have him executed for making what you call obvious decisions that MANY other young men have made. Seriously, which of his prior tickets make him a habitual criminal---the cell phone ticket---the failure to maintian vehicle lamps. Perhaps the ticket for having a car break down in traffic??? He will rightly go to jail for this, but you really can't act as if he is a serial killer over stupid youth tickets.

[jail time]

stupid youth tickets.. a person is dead because of what this man did. You would be saying a different thing if it was your child that was taken from you way to early due to what thomas thorn did.

[better choices]

I wasn't refering to this incident and I already agreed that jail time is absolutely necessary, but the other tickets are VERY common to guys his age. Unfortunately, our society has made it easy for people to get away with things until someone is killed. But they mostly were stupid youth tickets and the number of and types of violations that he had are way too common for his agegroup.

[better choices]

Oh-and I wasn't calling his prior tickes stupid (and some of them were.) I a was referring to the types of tickets he had as being common for "stupid youth."

[jail time]

i am in thomas thorns age group... and i havent recieved eight "stupid youth tickets" ... his tickets prove the type of driver he is... plain and simple!

[passingby]

Jail time: I think what better choices is trying to say that Thorn is stupid, not evil. He didn't intentionally kill this kid. He probably has the attitude that a lot of kids his age have: that they are indestructable and nothing bad like this will ever happen to him. He will most likely go to jail and is deserving of that, but not a life sentence as was stated by a previous post better choices was responding to. The jail time he does get will probably pale in comparison to the guilt he must be feeling and will feel forever.
Just had to put my two cents in. I cannot stand the "hang'im" mob mentality.

[jail time]

passingby: i don't have the "hang'im" mob mentality i just feel that he should go to jail. I'm not saying he should be stoned to death, I'm just saying that he should face that correct charges. An innocent 19 year old was taken because a 22 year old thought he was superman. He obviously has yet to learn from his previous mistakes so i hope that this will be the last time thomas thorn gets behind the wheel and thinks he is indestructible.

[better choices]

passingby, thank you. You articulated my sentiments perfectly. He should go to jail and hopefully people who know either of them can learn from this. It is horribly unfortunate, but most kids (even if they know either of them) will still think that this will not happen to them.

[anonymous]

Being someone who has heard official details of this accident, I would say it was the choice of Thorn to drive intoxicated on a suspended license as well as drive through a red light exceeding speeds of 80 mph. This man is not human, he has no heart nor mind-- for if he did the innocent person involved in this accident would still be alive.

[better choices]

OK, listen to yourself. Someone CHOSE to drive suspended through a redlight. That comment doesn't even deserve a remark. I think we all agree that he needs to go to jail but being stupid and reckless does not make someone inhuman.

[atco]

this is to "better choices". anonymous said he chose to drive ON a suspended license through a red light. not suspended through a red light.
i agree with anonymous. obviously this person has made many bad choices regarding driving. we need to punish repeat offenders, because they usually eventually kill or seriously injure someone. maybe if he had served jail-time for his previous offenses, this tragedy could have been avoided.
my prayers go out to the family of the victim,as well as to Thorn and his family

[anonymous]

to better choices: to clarify what i previously said, because of Thorn, hundreds of people including myself had to pass and look into the heartbroken eyes of the grieving English family and then look into the casket and see our friend Shawn, who was just innocently driving home when Thorn struck his car and killed him. What makes him a monster is the fact that he put the keys in the ignition even though he did not have a valid driver's license, knowingly stepped on the gas well aware he was intoxicated, he saw the red light but decided to blast through it anyway.

all i am going to say is that if it were your friend or loved one laying in that casket, maybe you would understand why i believe thorn is inhuman.

[jail time]

anonymous: i could not have said it better. The English family is heart broken over the loss of there oldest son, as would any family in this situation. An innocent teen was killed because thomas thorn made the decisions he did that night. All I can say is that I hope that Thomas Thorn gets the punishment he deserves.

And to you better choices.. I hope that you are never placed in the situation the English's are in. They lost there son and there life is changed forever. Try being in the shoes of there family and friends, having to say goodbye to a teen who's life was just beginning. If you were going through what we have been going through since this terrible night, you would see where all of us as a community are coming from. We lost an amazing person that night, someone whom I will never forget.

[better choices]

let me make myself clear. I am not advocating Thorn or anything he did. But what I AM saying is that I do not believe that his actions-no matter how unconscionable-were intentional and he should recieve an appropriate punishment. As a teacher of high school students I know how "stupid" and unfortunately, how common, they can be. I DO also KNOW AND HAVE CLOSE PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS WITH PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN VICTIMS OF SIMILAR CIRCUMSTANCE and it sucks, but I can still be realistic. Go and ride your high horse to your perfect world where you think all of the finger pointers can believe that nobody they know has EVER done something stupid that could result in a death, but God save them, they didn't cause a death. I hope nobody you care about ever makes a dumb decision and has to live with the people who think that they should die for being stupid. He should go-and DOES belong in jail for this, I've consistently said this, but I am realistic. I am sorry for your friend and loved ones but because I am not involved personally I can have a clear mind about the situation.

[better choices]

Let me also add--do you SERIOUSLY think that he SAW the red light-and knowing he had been drinking and had a suspended license- that he INTENTIONALLY stepped on the gas and went through a red light? NOBODY IS THAT MUCH OF A MONSTER. Please----making a statement like that just shows how irrational your thoughts and comments truly are.

[anonymous]

You need to hop off your high horse, there is no reason for you to attempt to belittle me for the OPINION I made whether you agree with it or not. You sit there and type out your response with the assumption I must live under a rock and I am completely oblivious to the world and unfamiliar with death. If you're a Cherokee teacher, you're aware of the number of deaths of many students in the LRHS district, majority due to car accidents. I graduated from CHS last year and I could not even explain to you how sick this community is of burying these individuals with their entire lives ahead of them.

I'm not saying Thorn went out that night with the intentions of killing someone but he did make decisions that put the public at risk. I did not mean that he intentionally stepped on the gas when he saw a car coming but due to his intoxication and high speed, he did not react in enough time to slow his speeding truck in an attempt to avoid colliding with Shawn's car. I don't feel that Thorn's penalty should be death. Thorn needs to sit in a tiny jail cell and wake up every day knowing he is there because his actions killed an innocent young man and I think we agree...atleast on that point.

Seeing you're from Marlton you probably know of the Anthony Farrace, a close friend, who died almost two years ago in a car crash. The driver of that car was driving recklessly and although it was NOT intentional, the carelessness and poor decisions of the driver caused that accident. I'm no stranger to the other side of this argument either, although you seem to believe otherwise. My brother was the driver involved in a handful one-car accidents that involved alcohol. He was extremely lucky that no one was ever hurt or killed due to his carelessness.

Also-- make sure you're aware that Shawn's family and family friends read this before you type your your next insensitive comment.

[Lindsay Kramer]

doozer wrote:

Obviously Mr. Thorn is not and has not been a decent young man! His life should be spent pondering his blatant disregard for life and the law in a empty cold cell!

Although this is extremely horrible, Tom Thorn is one of the greatest guys that I have ever come to know. He is not only one of the most intelligent and humorous people I have ever had the pleasure to know. My life has been benefited by this guy in many ways. He was definitely one of the smartest guys in our class and everyone knows that he's not the best driver, hence the many indescretions in driving. This was a horrible mistake, which I know for a fact that he will never be able to live down because he has one of the biggest hearts. I wish someone publicized all of your indiscretions and see how you feel.