Death of student found in lake ruled accidental

The Camden County Medical Examiner's Office ruled Thursday that the death of a Rutgers-Camden student whose body was pulled Wednesday morning from Newton Lake resulted from accidental drowning.

It is believed that Ricky Phillips, 21, of Oaklyn, crashed his car through a wooden barricade at Newton Lake Park and into the water sometime after midnight Wednesday.

The medical examiner said Phillips had also broken a vertebra in his neck in the accident. - James Osborne