HARFORD COUNTY, Md. — A Harford County man has been convicted following a crash that killed 16-year-old Blake Elliott last September.
John Anthony Gaeta Jr. has been convicted of criminally negligent manslaughter.
On September 18, 2025, 17-year-old Zachary Griffin was stopped on Route 543 to turn left onto Crescent Knoll Drive. Elliott was sitting in the passenger seat.
Gaeta was driving northbound on 543 and collided with Griffin's car, pushing it into oncoming traffic where it was then struck by a school bus.
Both Griffin and Elliott were trapped inside the car.
Police say Griffin spent 11 days in Shock Trauma with serious injuries. Elliott was taken to a hospital where she later died from her injuries.
Both teens were students at C. Milton Wright High School.
“There’s a lot of hurt people in that she was a very loved girl,” Brendan Anderson who lives near the crash site, told WMAR in February. “The neighbor here was really good friends with her and they were meeting in the basement mourning over her and all her friends and family, they put candles up over here at the corner.”
Search warrants obtained for Gaeta's cellphone show he began using his phone after leaving work that afternoon at the Arena Club, using three apps — Her A.I., Instagram, and Chess.com.
Police say he used these apps for the entire drive until 38 seconds before the collision, when the last app closed. His phone was also still unlocked with the screen illuminated at the time of the crash.
Sentencing has been set for August 17, 2026, where Gaeta faces a maximum penalty of three years of incarceration and/or a $5,000 fine.
