The State Senate and General Assembly honored the memory of Michael Sot with the reading of a joint legislative resolution on the senate floor, where the former Arthur L. Johnson Regional High School baseball star and student at The College of New Jersey was celebrated as a hero.

“The family and friends of Michael Sot will always cherish his valuable and irreplaceable presence in their lives and will forever hold for him an honored place in their hearts,” the resolution reads in part.

“Within all the spheres of his life, Michael Sot established a model to emulate and set a standard of excellence toward which others might strive. It is altogether proper and fitting for this Legislature to pause in its deliberations and celebrate the life of Michael Sot, and to remember him as young man of outstanding character and remarkable determination.

“Therefore, be it resolved by the Senate and General Assembly of the state of New Jersey that this legislature hereby commends the late Michael Sot and praises his meritorious record of service, leadership and commitment.”

Following the senate clerk’s reading on Thursday of the 486-word resolution, the entire senate welcomed Sot’s family and friends to the senate floor with a standing ovation.

St. Joseph High School head baseball coach Mike Murray Jr., a friend of the Sot family who has coached both of Michael’s brothers, said he and all in attendance were deeply moved by the powerful words of the joint resolution.

“Having an opportunity to be there as the resolution was being read, I certainly know the Sot family well enough to know they are never going to forget or fail to understand what Michael’s legacy means to them,” Murray said. “It was really powerful to see how his legacy impacted our lawmakers in the state. The room fell silent when it was being read because it is not hyperbole to say that Michael is a New Jersey hero. A room of powerful people now knows what the family has known.”

Sot, a Clark native who graduated from Arthur L. Johnson in 2017, died on Dec. 4 from injuries suffered two days earlier in a head-on collision with a motorist who was allegedly impaired.

David Lamar, the driver of the car that crossed over a double yellow line before striking Sot’s vehicle, according to a police report, was charged with vehicular homicide in Sot’s death. The Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office said Lamar’s blood-alcohol level was three times the legal limit.

A 20-year-old sophomore at The College of New Jersey, Sot was serving as a designated driver, responsibly chauffeuring five TCNJ students from a frat party, when his vehicle was struck. The designated driver run was one of about two dozen Sot made that Saturday evening.

“The tragedy of this young man’s death, who was doing the right thing, is beyond comprehension and it’s something that I just felt necessary, and the Senate President (Stephen M. Sweeney) agreed with me 100 percent, that it should be recognized and hopefully give some comfort to the family,” said Senator Patrick J. Diegnan Jr., one of the resolution’s sponsors.

The resolution was read days after two separate Memorial Day weekend crashes involving alleged drunk drivers – both of who were charged with vehicular homicide – claimed the lives of four Middlesex County residents.

Ondina Castro De La Cruz, 47, her daughter, Mayelin Brito-Castro, 32, and Brito-Castro’s daughter Kiara Hernandez, 4, all of Perth Amboy, were killed in a crash in upstate New York on Sunday by an alleged drunk driver who struck the family’s minivan, which was in transit to Niagara Falls.

On the previous night, Aliza Akhtar, 19, of Old Bridge, died after her car was struck by a motorist who was allegedly intoxicated.

“Hopefully,” Diegnan said, “recognition such as this calls attention to the ongoing safety issue that needs to be addressed. The thing that makes this particular circumstance so tragic is this young man was doing the right thing – taking intoxicated drivers off the road – and lost his life doing that. It really is incomprehensible.”

The resolution also paid tribute to The John R. Elliott HERO Campaign for Designated Drivers, which has partnered with Clark Township’s police and recreation departments and the Somerset Patriots to honor Sot’s memory during “Clark Family Night” on June 28 when the Patriots host the Long Island Ducks at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater.

The goal of the HERO campaign, named in honor of John Elliott, a New Jersey native and graduate of the Naval Academy who was killed in a head-on collision with a drunk driver in 2000, is to end drunk driving tragedies nationwide through the promotion and use of safe and sober designated drivers. All police vehicles in Clark now display a HERO bumper sticker, heightening awareness about the campaign.

A portion of the proceeds from the Somerset Patriots game will be used to create a billboard bearing Michael’s image and the slogan: “Be a HERO. Be a designated driver.” The billboard will be on a high visibility roadway.

Bill Elliott, John’s father and founder of the HERO Campaign, stood in solidarity with Sot’s mother, Candice, and father, Michael, as the resolution was read.

“The tragedies that these families suffered, losing a child to a drunk driver, is beyond comprehension,” Diegnan said while addressing the full senate on the senate floor. “They have used this tragedy as an opportunity to save the lives of other young people. For Michael’s family and Bill Elliott to be here and to create this foundation, it (the reading of Thursday’s resolution) is the appropriate thing to do. These are heroes, and we salute you.”

Following the reading of the resolution, Diegnan and Sweeney joined Sot’s family, including his brothers Jon and Matt, his paternal grandparents Carolyn and Ed, his stepmother Jana Fabio, his stepbrother Frankie Fabio, as well as Candice and Michael, on the senate floor for a group photo.

The resolution also recognized Sot’s academic and athletic accomplishments as a high school and college student.

As a high school baseball player, Sot earned Union County Conference All-Mountain Division first-team honors in 2017 while batting .330 as a second baseman and posting a 2.02 ERA as a pitcher. He was recipient of the Arthur L. Johnson Athletic Department’s Best Teammate Award that same year.

A member of the National Honor Society, Sot remained an outstanding student at TCNJ, where he was majoring in math and aspired to become an actuary.

“The Senate and General Assembly of the state of New Jersey are pleased to salute the memory of Michael Sot,” the resolution also read in part, calling the hero “a highly esteemed member of his Garden State community.”

THE SENATE AND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

STATE HOUSE, TRENTON, N.J.

JOINT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION

By Senators Diegnan and Scutari, Assemblywoman Carter,

Assemblymen Kennedy and Karabinchak and Assemblywoman Pinkin

Whereas, The Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey are pleased to salute the memory of Michael Sot, a highly esteemed member of his Garden State community, who will be honored during Clark Family Night at the Somerset Patriots baseball game at TD Bank Ball Park on June 28, 2019; and,

Whereas, During this special evening, the John R. Elliott HERO Campaign for Designated Drivers, the Police and Recreation Departments of the Township of Clark, and the Somerset Patriots will pay tribute to Michael Sot, and a portion of the game’s proceeds will be used to create a billboard bearing his image accompanied by the slogan, Be a HERO. Be a designated driver; and,

Whereas, An admired graduate of Arthur L. Johnson Regional High School and exemplary sophomore at The College of New Jersey, Michael Sot was volunteering as a designated driver for five of his fellow students on December 2, 2018, when his vehicle was struck by a driver who crossed over double yellow lines and whose blood-alcohol level was three times the legal limit; and,

Whereas, Michael Sot, who always put others before himself, had made about two dozen prior designated driver runs that evening, and he tragically died on December 4, 2018, at the young age of twenty; and,

Whereas, A star baseball player and member of the National Honor Society at his high school, Michael Sot was a math major with aspirations to become an actuary, and was a valued member of the Phi Kappa Psi National Fraternity; and,

Whereas, Named in honor of John Elliott, a New Jersey native and graduate of the Naval Academy who was killed in a head-on collision with a drunk driver on July 22, 2000, the John R. Elliott Foundation was established by his family in October 2000, and its exceptional HERO Campaign promotes the use of safe and sober designated drivers; and,

Whereas, The family and friends of Michael Sot will always cherish his valuable and irreplaceable presence in their lives, and will forever hold for him an honored place in their hearts; and,

Whereas, Within all the spheres of his life, Michael Sot established a model to emulate and set a standard of excellence toward which others might strive; and,

Whereas, It is altogether proper and fitting for this Legislature to pause in its deliberations and celebrate the life of Michael Sot, and to remember him as young man of outstanding character and remarkable determination; now, therefore,

Be It Resolved by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

That this Legislature hereby commends the late Michael Sot and praises his meritorious record of service, leadership, and commitment; and,

Be It Further Resolved, That a duly authenticated copy of this resolution, signed by the Senate President and the Assembly Speaker and attested by the Senate Secretary and the Assembly Clerk, be transmitted to the family of Michael Sot.

This story was originally published by My Central Jersey.