A Kenyan-born truck driver living in Texas has been sentenced to six years in prison in the United States after admitting responsibility for a road-rage crash that killed another lorry driver on a busy New Jersey highway.
Joseph Nyandwaro, 41, was sentenced on Friday at the Gloucester County Superior Court after pleading guilty to second-degree vehicular homicide. The case stemmed from a collision on the New Jersey Turnpike last summer that prosecutors described as deliberate and deadly.
The crash occurred on June 22, 2025, in Woolwich Township, along the northbound stretch of the Turnpike. Authorities said Nyandwaro rammed another tractor-trailer driven by Osman Aden, 40, of Minnesota, forcing it into a concrete barrier. Mr Aden died at the scene.
According to investigators, the incident followed a prolonged confrontation between the two drivers. State police said witnesses reported that Nyandwaro repeatedly blocked Mr Aden’s vehicle before striking it.
A video later recovered from inside Nyandwaro’s truck showed the collision and his reaction afterwards, court records show. Prosecutors said he drove away without stopping to check on the other driver.
“He did not stop to assist the victim,” prosecutors told the court, adding that Nyandwaro later attempted to conceal damage to his vehicle.
New Jersey State Police tracked down the truck with the help of the trucking company that employed Nyandwaro. He was arrested and later charged with second-degree homicide and leaving the scene of a fatal accident.
Under the plea deal, Nyandwaro admitted to both causing the crash and fleeing afterwards. Prosecutors agreed to recommend a six-year sentence, with the condition that he serve at least 85 per cent of the term before becoming eligible for parole.
The case has drawn attention in both the United States and Kenya, highlighting the deadly consequences of road rage and the heavy penalties drivers face when violence spills onto the highway.
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