A Monmouth County grand jury has returned a four-count indictment charging two men with a July 2015 Eatontown murder, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni announced.

Frederick Reed, 20 of New Castle, Delaware and Perry Veney, Jr., 31 of Long Branch, have been charged in the Thursday of last week indictment with: first-degree conspiracy to commit murder; first-degree murder and second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.

Veney was also charged with second-degree certain persons not to have a weapon. The charges are the result of a joint investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and Eatontown Police Department that began on July 10, 2015, and continued over the course of nearly a year and a half.

The case background … 

Eatontown police responded to the entrance of Country Club Apartments at the corner of Tilton Avenue and Country Club Road on a report of shots being fired around 12:13 a.m., on July 10, 2015.

Upon arrival, police located the victim, Rasheem Palmer, 37, of Eatontown, lying in the roadway on Country Club Road. The victim was transported to Jersey Shore University Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 2:47 a.m.

Frederick Reed was arrested on Dec. 28, 2016 in Delaware. His bail was set at $1.1 million, cash only. After waiving extradition, he was transported to and lodged at the Monmouth County Correctional Institution in Freehold on Jan. 4, 2017.

Veney was arrested on Dec. 30, 2016 and taken to the Monmouth County Correctional Institution in Freehold on that date, where he remains in lieu of $1.2 million cash only bail.

If convicted of first-degree murder, Reed and Veney face a minimum sentence of thirty years in state prison during which time they would be ineligible for parole and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, subject to the provisions of the No Early Release Act (NERA).

NERA requires that a defendant serve 85 percent of the sentence imposed before becoming eligible for parole.

If convicted of the first-degree conspiracy, both men would be subject to a maximum sentence of 20 years in a New Jersey state prison.

If convicted of second-degree possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose, they face a maximum of 10 years in prison, which is subject to a mandatory minimum of 1/3 of the sentence imposed or 3.5 years, whichever is greater, without parole.

Veney also faces a maximum sentence of ten years in NJ state prison if convicted of the certain persons not to have a weapon charge, which is subject to a mandatory minimum of five years without parole.

The case is assigned to Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutors Meghan Doyle and Hoda Soliman.

Reed is represented by Allison F. Friedman of Freehold.
Veney is represented by Edward Bertucio, Esq., of Eatontown.

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