The New Jersey grandmother who was killed when her car was struck by a group of joyriding teenagers in a stolen G-wagon was a beloved hair stylist who was nearing retirement, according to family members.
Alice Stilwell, 67, and her partner of more than 20 years Robert Barr, Jr., 54, were tragically killed Saturday morning when the jacked $220,000 Mercedes-Benz SUV smashed into their Hyundai in Mays Landing in Atlantic County after an hours-long police chase.
Stilwell, of Egg Harbor, decided to “pursue her passion for creativity and beauty” and become a hair stylist in the early 1990s — but for the mother and grandmother, her career was more than “simply a job,” her family members shared in her obituary.
“The chair became a place where people could feel heard, understood, encouraged, and loved. She was a stylist, but she was also a counselor, a therapist, a trusted friend, and to so many of her clients, a source of comfort,” her obituary states.
Stilwell, a grandmother to 10 , had just recently reduced her hours as she entered her retirement years with Barr, but “could never quite bring herself to walk away from her chair.”
“She loved her clients far too much. Helping people feel beautiful, confident, and cared for was simply part of who she was,” the obituary says.
In her later years, she poured her heart into her artwork and “whimsical creations,” which she sold at local famers markets.
The teenagers were speeding down the wrong side of the road when they struck the sedan and sent it careering into a nearby gas station near Route 50 and Third Street in Mays Landing around 7:50 a.m. , the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office said.
The teens escaped the car wreck largely unscathed and attempted to flee, but were quickly taken into custody, authorities said.
Local cops had been tailing a stolen 2024 G Wagon, which had Pennsylvania license plates, since about 3:40 a.m. after it blew past an officer in Longport who tried to pull the car over, according to the criminal complaint.
The luxury car was spotted hours later around 7:45 a.m. in Hamilton Township. Police gave chase but lost sight of it a few minutes before the crash, prosecutors said.
Nayshaun Brown, 18, of Atlantic City, and three juvenile teens, who were not identified due to their age, were charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, joyriding and eluding police after the deadly wreck.
“The unexpected circumstances surrounding Alice’s passing have left an immeasurable hole in the lives of those who loved her, yet her legacy will not end with her passing,” Stilwell’s obituary says.
“It will live on in her daughters, her grandchildren, family, friends, the people Alice made feel beautiful, the people she comforted, the people she encouraged, and in every creative piece made by hands and hearts that she inspired.”
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