Update: Ex-’Idol’ contestant Alexis Cohen struck, killed in hit-and-run in NJ

Former “American Idol” contestant Alexis Cohen, famous for her defiance of the show’s judges who twice rejected her, was killed in the early morning yesterday in a hit and run accident, police said.  Cohen, 25, was found lying unconscious at about 4 a.m. in Seaside Heights, NJ.  Cohen, was pronounced dead at a Toms River, N.J., hospital Saturday hours later, and her death has been declared vehicular homicide, The Newark (N.J. Star-Ledger reported.

Cohen garnered instant notoriety in January 2008 following her televised appearance on an “American Idol” audition show as she was mockingly dismissed by Simon Cowell as the Green Goblin. She responded with a profanity-laced commentary. She returned in January for a repeat audition that again ended in profanity.  A video of her angry rant went viral on the Internet. She capitalized on her failures with appearances on TV shows such as “Extra,” “Live with Regis and Kelly” and “The View.”

Update: Authorities have arrested a New Jersey man Sunday in the hit-and-run death of Cohen at the Jersey Shore. Daniel Bark, 23, of Toms River is accused of striking Cohen in his 2005 Mitsubishi Gallant and left the scene of the predawn Saturday accident, police said. He was charged with second-degree manslaughter, and faces 10 to 15 years in prison if convicted. Bark was arrested in Monmouth County, but was being held by Ocean City cops. Bail was set at $35,000, authorities said.