2004
Media Releases:
CAMDEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE
VINCENT P. SARUBBI, CAMDEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR
MEDIA INFORMATION
March 25, 2004
Camden County Prosecutor Vincent P. Sarubbi reported today that
a Grand Jury has indicted five defendants in unrelated homicides
from the City of Camden.
Indicted on Wednesday, March 24, were:
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Eleazer Bautista, M/21, of the first block of North 25th Street
in Camden. He is charged with vehicular homicide in connection
with a motor vehicle crash on July 28, 2003. The investigation
indicates the defendant was driving a 1996 Pontiac Grand Am at
a high rate of speed northbound on Baird Boulevard in Camden at
approximately 3:55 a.m. The car swerved out of control and struck
a tree beside the road, the investigation indicates.
Passenger Cesar Ernesto Mendez, M/19, of the same North 25th Street
address, suffered head and body trauma in the crash and succumbed
to his injuries on Aug. 7, 2003, at Cooper University Hospital
in Camden.
Camden Police officers who responded to the scene allegedly detected
the smell of alcohol on the defendant's breath and found marijuana
at the scene. Toxicology tests indicate Bautista's blood alcohol
level was 0.16, above the state's legal limit of 0.10. The blood
test also revealed a low level of cannabinoids, indicating marijuana
use. The investigation also indicates the vehicle was traveling
between 50 and 60 mph before the crash. The posted speed limit
in the area is 25 mph. Two other passengers were seriously injured.
Bautista is free on $140,000 bail.
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Reginald Medley, M/24, last known address in the 1000 block of
Liberty Street Corbett was shot and killed in front of No. 6 Oak
Walk in the Crestbury Apartments at approximately 12:12 a.m. on
June 16. Corbett, a former Elkton, Md., resident who had been
living at the Crestbury Apartments, was pronounced dead at approximately
12:40 a.m. that day at Cooper University Medical Center in Camden.
The investigation indicates the defendant and victim were among
a group of individuals gathered in front of the apartment when
the defendant drew a handgun and shot the victim after a dispute.
Medley is being held in the New Jersey State Prison in Trenton
on a parole violation.
- Lance
Bean, M/21, of the Aspen Hill Apartments in Deptford. He is charged
with Murder in connection with the death of Donald Sanders, M/29.
The victim, who lived in the Cherrywood Apartments in Clementon,
was found fatally shot in the 1300 block of Lakeshore Drive in
Camden at approximately 11:15 p.m. on April 16, 2003. The investigation
indicates Sanders and Bean engaged in a loud argument and that
Bean then fired a handgun repeatedly at Sanders. The victim died
from multiple gunshot wounds. Bean is free on $400,000 bail.
- Felix
Rodriguez, M/29, of the 400 block of Pine Street in Camden. He
is charged with Murder in the fatal shooting of Ruben Gomez, M/25,
on May 26, 2003, at approximately 10:05 p.m. in the area of 24th
and Federal streets. Gomez suffered a single gunshot wound to
the head and was taken to Cooper University Hospital, where he
died the following day. The investigation indicates the defendant
was waving a handgun around out on the street and that the firearm
discharged and a bullet struck the victim. Rodriguez is being
held in lieu of $300,000 bail.
- Eddie
Butler, a.k.a. Shaquille Laws, M/21, of 2400 block of South 8th
Street in Camden. He is charged with the fatal shooting of Kenneth
Talley Jr., M/19, on May 3, 2003. The investigation indicates
the victim and defendant were among a group of people partying
in the victim's home in the 2300 block of South 8th Street when
Talley and the defendant got into a dispute. Butler allegedly
pulled a handgun and shot Talley to death at approximately 3 a.m.
Butler is being held in lieu of $350,000 bail.
Sarubbi
also announced that the following defendants were indicted on Murder
charges last month:
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Michael Damon, 24, of the 1200 block of Octagon Road in Camden,
charged with the shooting death of Michael Vanderhurst on Jan.
19, 2003, in the 400 block of Boyd Street in Camden, N.J. Damon
was arrested on Feb. 7, 2003, at 8th Street and Ferry Avenue.
Vanderhurst, of North Grove Avenue in National Park, was shot
once through the back. The investigation indicates the shooting
stemmed from a dispute over drugs. Damon is being held at South
Woods State Prison in Bridgeton on a parole violation.
- David
L. Moon, 25, of the first block of Blueberry Lane in Willingboro,
charged in the shooting death of Corie Carter, M/26, on Feb. 23,
2003, in Camden. The victim, of the Northgate I apartments in
Camden, was shot in the head at approximately 3 a.m. in the 1100
block of Newton Avenue in Camden. The defendant was arrested three
hours later while at the at Broadway & Mickle Boulevard in Camden.
The investigation indicates the defendant shot the victim during
a robbery. Moon is being held at the Camden County Correctional
Facility on $300,000 bail.
- Jarrid
R. Dozier, M/16, Terrance D. Washington, M/17, and James H. Palmer,
M/20, all of the Sicklerville section of Winslow, who are charged
in the beating death of Jamaal K. Johnson, M/20, in Lindenwold,
N.J. Johnson sustained head injuries during an assault on May
21, 2003, at the Green Tree Apartments on Gibbsboro Road and died
on June 2, 2003, at Cooper University Hospital. In July 2003,
Superior Court Judge Angelo DiCamillo granted the state's application
to waive the defendants to adult court.
The investigation indicates that Dozier and Washington struck
Johnson in the head and face multiple times with their fists,
causing Johnson to fall backward and strike his head on the pavement.
Palmer verbally encouraged and exhorted the juveniles to assault
the victim, the investigation indicates. The dispute involved
the victim's former girlfriend, who is the current girlfriend
of the 17-year-old defendant, the investigation determined. Palmer
and Dozier are free on $175,000 bail each. Washington is free
on $200,000 bail.
All
persons charged with criminal offenses are presumed innocent unless
and until proven guilty in a court of law.
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