An area teen has been sentenced to 45 years in state prison after being found guilty in December of 2024 of the 2022 shooting murder of a man, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago announced on Thursday.

Joseph N. Argilagos, 19, of Asbury Park, having been found guilty on Dec. 18, 2024 of all counts against him, was sentenced on Tuesday, April 22, by Monmouth County Superior Court Jill Grace O’Malley, P.J.Cr.  

For the murder charge, Argilagos must serve a minimum of 85 percent of that sentence before the possibility of parole, in accordance with New Jersey’s No Early Release Act (NERA). Argilagos was also sentenced to an additional seven years for the weapons possession offense with a period of parole ineligibility in accordance with the New Jersey Graves Act, which will run concurrent to the murder sentence.

Co-defendant Lydell Brown, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder after the jury failed to reach an agreement on the charges against him, was sentenced on March 12 to five years in prison with a mandatory minimum 85 percent parole ineligibility in accordance with NERA.

The case background …

Argilagos, originally a juvenile defendant, was waived to adult court in September of 2023 upon motion by the prosecution, shortly before a Monmouth County Grand Jury indicted both he and Brown as accomplices in the shooting murder of the victim.

At trial before Judge O’Malley, the jury heard evidence establishing that shortly after 5:45 p.m. on Friday, July 8, 2022, members of the Asbury Park Police Department responded to a report of gunfire originating from the 100 block of Prospect Avenue, near the intersection with Atlantic Avenue. Upon arrival at the scene, officers encountered 19-year-old Dariel Vernet of Asbury Park, who had sustained multiple gunshot injuries. He was transported to Jersey Shore University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead approximately one hour later.

The investigation into Vernet’s death, led by members of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office’s Major Crimes Bureau and Asbury Park police, resulted in Brown and Argilagos, both Asbury Park residents, being identified as the individuals responsible.

Argilagos was apprehended just days after the shooting, and Brown was found and arrested without incident in Toms River (Ocean County) in May of 2023 by members of the Prosecutor’s Office, the Asbury Park police, and members of the U.S. Marshals Service New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force.

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