Lakewood Man Charged In Fatal Shooting Of Little Egg Man

LAKEWOOD, NJ — A Lakewood man has been charged with murder in the fatal shooting Sunday of a Little Egg Harbor man, authorities announced.

Jahvontae Debose, 24, was arrested Tuesday following a motor vehicle stop in Pleasantville in connection with an investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics Strike Force, Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer and Lakewood Police Chief Gregory Meyer said in a joint statement.

Debose was charged Thursday with murder in the killing of Dajour Randolph, 20, of Little Egg Harbor, on Sunday evening, Billhimer said. Randolph was found unresponsive in the middle of the street in Tudor Court about 7:40 p.m. Sunday with a gunshot wound to the chest, Billhimer said. Randolph was taken to Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus in Lakewood, where he subsequently succumbed to his injuries.

The Ocean County medical examiner performed an autopsy Tuesday and said Randolph died due to multiple gunshot wounds and ruled his death a homicide.

In connection with the Narcotics Strike Force investigation, Debose was charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute; conspiracy to distribute marijuana; possession of more than 50 grams of marijuana; possession of a firearm in the course of committing a drug offense; being a certain person not to possess a weapon; and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, Billhimer said.

He is being held at the Ocean County Jail pending a detention hearing.

Billhimer said the investigation by the prosecutor’s office Major Crime Unit, Lakewood police and the police department’s Detective Bureau, and Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit was able to connect Debose to the shooting of Randolph and he was served with the complaint charging him on Thursday.
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Anyone with information about the investigation is urged to contact Detective Brant Uricks of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office at 732-929-2027, or Detective Eric Cicerello of the Lakewood Township Police Department at 732-363-0200.

“Law enforcement officers at the local, county, state, and federal levels demonstrated outstanding teamwork in connection with this very deliberative and comprehensive investigation. I am extremely grateful for their hard work and perseverance in expeditiously solving this horrendous and senseless crime,” Billhimer said.

The Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit, Narcotics Strike Force, High Tech Crime Unit, Economic Crimes Unit, and Victim Witness Advocacy Unit, Lakewood Township Police Department, Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, Ocean County Sheriff’s Office K-9 unit, New Jersey State Police Regional Operations and Intelligence Center, Brick Township Police Department, Manchester Township Police Department, Toms River Township Police Department, Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office, Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, Pleasantville Police Department, and the U.S. Marshals Service collaborated in the investigation.

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