Lakewood Man Pleads Guilty In Fatal 2016 Shooting

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Lakewood man has pleaded guilty to killing another Lakewood man during a shooting in 2016, the Ocean County prosecutor's office said Tuesday.

Merrill Spencer, 38, of Lakewood, pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter on Friday before Superior Court Judge Rochelle Gizinski, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 31, 2020, and faces up to 30 years in prison.

The shooting happened June 13, 2016. Johntel Thomas, 23, was found dead on the sidewalk along Martin Luther King Boulevard near Alder Street in Lakewood about 6:30 a.m., with a gunshot wound to the chest, authorities said and NJ.com reported at the time.

Detectives from the Lakewood Township Police Department and Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit were able to locate and interview witnesses to the shooting, which then led to the discovery of video surveillance footage depicting Spencer as the shooter, the prosecutor's office said.

Spencer was arrested around 10:30 p.m. that day at a nearby home, authorities said.

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