Lakewood Man Gets 30 Years In Fatal 2016 Shooting

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Lakewood man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison in the fatal shooting of a Toms River man in 2016, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office announced Wednesday.

Merrill Spencer, 39, of Lakewood, was sentenced Wednesday on one county of aggravated manslaughter by Superior Court Judge Rochelle Gizinski, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said. Spencer pleaded guilty to the charge Nov. 22, 2019.

Spencer, who has been in the Ocean County Jail since he was arrested June 13, 2016, will be required to serve 85 percent of the sentenced before he is eligible for parole.

The shooting happened June 13, 2016. Lakewood police found Johntel Thomas, 23, of Toms River, lying on the sidewalk along Martin Luther King Boulevard with a gunshot wound to the chest. He was pronounced dead shortly after police arrived were called to

Detectives from Lakewood and the prosecutor's office Major Crime Unit interviewed witnesses and learned there was video surveillance footage, which led to identifying Spencer as the shooter, and to his arrest, Billhimer said.

Supervising Assistant Prosecutor Kristin Pressman and Assistant Prosecutor Kaitlyn Burke handled the case. In addition to Lakewood police and the prosecutor’s Major Crime Unit, the prosecutor’s High Tech Crime Unit and Victim Witness Advocacy Unit, and Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit investigated.

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