Crime, Regional Interest

Prosecutor: 25- and 26-Year-Old Pair Indicted on 31 Counts of Attempted Murder & Related Charges

An area couple in their 20s has been indicted on 31 counts of various charges in connection with three 2021 and early 2022 attempted murders that occurred over a span of four days, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey announced on Wednesday.

Kahniaha X. Dean, 25, of Neptune Township, and Ishawn A. Collazo, 26, of Long Branch, have both been charged with: three counts of first-degree attempted murder, three counts of first-degree conspiracy to commit murder, four counts of second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, two counts of second-degree possession of a firearm while committing CDS offenses, and one count of second-degree possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute.

Dean, himself, has also been charged with one count of fourth-degree aggravated assault by pointing a firearm, one count of third-degree making terroristic threats, six counts of second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, and one count of second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.

Collazo alone has also been charged with five counts of first-degree unlawful possession of a weapon and four counts of second-degree certain persons not to have weapons.

The case background …

At approximately 12:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2021, Neptune Township police responded to a report of shots being fired on the 400 block of Fisher Avenue and located several spent 9mm shell casings. Moments later, they discovered an adult male shooting victim in a nearby parked vehicle. The victim was subsequently transported to Jersey Shore Regional Medical Center for treatment.

Shortly after 10 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 1, 2022, Neptune police responded to the 300 block of Neptune Boulevard for another report of shots being fired; and, upon arrival, they discovered another adult male shooting victim. Additional 9mm shell casings were recovered at the scene, and the victim was transported to Jersey Shore Regional Medical Center for treatment.

Following review of evidence recovered at the scene, investigators determined that another incident had taken place only minutes earlier at a nearby apartment on the 2000 block of Milton Avenue, where an assailant attempted to shoot the same adult male who had been shot days earlier. The assailant’s gun jammed, however, and the masked shooter fled the scene, leaving behind a live 9mm round that had been ejected from the gun.

A joint investigation by the MCPO Major Crimes Bureau, the Neptune Township Police Department, and the Long Branch Police Department resulted in Dean and Collazo being identified as suspects in all three incidents. The investigation also revealed that the day before the first attempted murder, that same shooting victim was threatened by Dean at gunpoint in a park in Long Branch, but no shots were fired.

Dean and Collazo were arrested shortly after 11:45 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 14, when members of the Woodbridge Police Department (Middlesex County) responded to a report of a man brandishing a gun outside a nightclub on Lafayette Road and conducted a traffic stop of their vehicle.

A search of the car revealed a loaded handgun under a seat, and the investigation determined that it was the same weapon used in each of the shooting incidents. Also recovered from the vehicle was a large amount of cocaine, drug distribution paraphernalia, and a loaded submachine gun with a folding stock.  

If convicted, these defendants could face up to 20 years on each first-degree criminal charge, as well as up to 10 years on the second-degree charges.