Trying to use 'expo start' but getting JSON Error: Unexpected token in JSON

Question

I've been following the tutorial here to get started with learning React Native. However, I can't seem to get my project to start. I am able to use the expo init command to create a project, but when I cd to the AwesomeProject folder and try to run the npm start project, my terminal throws the following error (the below image, specifically the bottom part), and thus I cant open the localhost link.

Before, when I tried to run expo start I would get npm errors, which couldn't seem to be resolved with clearing cache and any other solution. So I completely uninstalled and the reinstalled node.js as well as Expo CLI. Now, the npm error is gone but I have been getting this JSON error that I cannot seem to figure out the cause of.

Thanks and I'd appreciate any help with this!

For reference, this is my package.json

{
  "name": "awesomeproject",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "main": "node_modules/expo/AppEntry.js",
  "scripts": {
    "start": "expo start",
    "android": "expo start --android",
    "ios": "expo start --ios",
    "web": "expo start --web",
    "eject": "expo eject"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "expo": "~44.0.0",
    "expo-status-bar": "~1.2.0",
    "react": "17.0.1",
    "react-dom": "17.0.1",
    "react-native": "0.64.3",
    "react-native-web": "0.17.1"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "@babel/core": "^7.12.9"
  },
  "private": true
}

node -v: v16.15.0 npm -v: 8.5.4