Prosecutor: Three Area Men Indicted on Murder Charges Stemming from March Homicide

Three area men have been indicted on murder and weapons charges stemming from the March fatal shooting of an 18-year-old, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago announced on Tuesday.

Aiden Terlecki, 19, of Middletown, Joshua Moore, 21, of Neptune Township, and Jahsaad M. Banks, 19, of Asbury Park, have been charged with one count each of first-degree murder, first-degree conspiracy to commit murder, two counts of second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon (firearm), two counts of second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and three counts of third-degree hindering. Moore has also been charged with one count of second-degree certain persons not to possess a weapon.

On Sunday, March 16, at 12:34 p.m., Long Branch police responded to a report of a shooting in the vicinity of the John R. Lewis Commons. Upon arrival, officers discovered an 18-year-old male suffering from gunshot wounds.

The victim, later identified as Tristan Reeves, was rushed to a local hospital where he would later succumb to his injuries.

An investigation by members of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Bureau and the Long Branch Police Department resulted in Terlecki, Moore and Banks being identified as the individuals responsible.

Terlecki was found and arrested on the evening of Thursday, Oct. 9, by members of the Port Authority Police Department. Terlecki remains in custody in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution (MCCI).

Moore was apprehended in Long Branch on Thursday, Oct. 2. Moore was transported to the MCCI, where he is being held pending future court proceedings. Banks was already being detained at the MCCI on an unrelated matter. Banks and Moore were ordered to be detained during a hearing on Wednesday, Oct. 15, in front of Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Henry P. Butehorn.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Prosecutors Matthew Bogner, Director of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Bureau, and Christopher Dize, of the office’s Trial Dvision.

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