Prosecutor: Five Arrested On Attempted Murder, Firearm Charges in February Shooting

A multi-jurisdictional investigation into a February shooting in Keansburg has resulted in five arrests, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni announced on Friday.

Shortly before 5 p.m. on Feb. 20, Keansburg police responded to a report of shots fired in the first block of Seabreeze Avenue. The intended victim was identified and evidence consistent with a shooting was recovered.

A joint investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutors Office and Keansburg Police Department was launched. That investigation revealed that on February 20, 2020, the victim was shot at multiple times from a vehicle occupied by three people. Subsequent investigation led to the identification of that vehicle, and the three occupants of that vehicle were identified as Wayne Jones, Jr., Brittany Smalls, and Tyrone Bailey.

On May 6, 2020, during a motor vehicle stop of Wayne Jones, Jr., related to the investigation, Jones, Jr. and two others were found to be in possession of a stolen, loaded, 9mm handgun.

Jones, Jr., 23, of Keansburg, Bailey, 21, of Asbury Park, and Smalls, 25, of Neptune Township, are charged with: first-degree attempted murder, second-degree possession of a handgun for an unlawful purpose, second-degree unlawful possession of a handgun and third-degree aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Jones is also charged with second-degree unlawful possession of a handgun and third-degree receiving stolen property.

Tiera Young, 24, of Lakewood, and Darrell Ghee, 25, of Asbury Park, are charged with second-degree unlawful possession of a handgun and third-degree receiving stolen property. Ghee was also charged with second-degree certain person not to possess a firearm. Ghee was recently paroled from a 30-day home confinement furlough after he was released from New Jersey State Prison under Gov. Phil Murphy’s Executive Order #124. Ghee was previously sentenced on Dec. 31, 2019 to an aggregate four-year New Jersey state prison term for eluding and CDS offenses, with a maximum release date set for July 25, 2020.

All five defendants are being held in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution (MCCI) in Freehold Township pending individual detention hearings scheduled for May 18, 2020.

If convicted of attempted murder, Jones, Smalls and Bailey face sentences of up to 20 years in a New Jersey state prison without parole, subject to the provisions of the No Early Release Act (NERA), requiring them to serve 85 percent of the sentence imposed before becoming eligible for release on parole. They would also be under parole supervision for five years following their release from state prison.

If convicted of unlawful possession of a handgun, each individual faces a sentence of five to 10 years in prison subject to the provisions of the Graves Act, requiring them to serve a mandatory 42 months in state prison before becoming eligible for release on parole.

If convicted of being a certain person not to possess a handgun, Ghee faces a statutorily mandated sentence of five years in prison with five years parole ineligibility.

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