A Monmouth County woman has been sentenced to 20 years in a New Jersey state prison for the 2016 fatal stabbing of her neighbor, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni announced.

Jennie Cullum, 30, of Asbury Park, pleaded guilty in March to the charge of first-degree aggravated manslaughter, admitting she caused the death of her neighbor, 23-year-old Iquan Tyler, when she stabbed him in the shoulder with a knife. 

The case background …

A joint investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and Asbury Park Police Department revealed that Cullum and Tyler, who had previously never met, had a verbal argument earlier that day.

Cullum subsequently returned to Tyler’s apartment and asked to speak with him. When he emerged, she plunged a kitchen knife 5.5 inches deep into Tyler’s shoulder and then fled the scene. Tyler, covered in blood, reentered his apartment and advised his family she had stabbed him. Tyler’s family alerted an Asbury Park police officer they located while in-route to the hospital.

He was rushed to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune Township where he died as a result of a single stab wound to his left shoulder. After interviewing numerous witnesses, Cullum was arrested and charged the next day. 

The 20-year prison term for Cullum is subject to the provisions of the No Early Release Act (NERA), requiring her to serve 85 percent of her sentence before being eligible for parole, with a mandatory five-year period of parole supervision upon her subsequent release. The terms of the plea agreement were reached in consultation with Tyler’s family. 

— Edited press release from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office