Pleasantville man sentenced for settling differences with gunfire

Resolving an argument with a gun earns a Pleasantville man at least 12 years in prison.

In Trenton, Andre Graves-Byrd, 26, was sentenced to 15 years for his April guilty plea connected to the shooting of a man and woman in October 2014. His agreement requires him to serve 12 years, nine months before parole eligibility.

The sentence reflects two first-degree counts of attempted murder and a second-degree weapons charge, according to the office of acting New Jersey Attorney General Robert Lougy.

According to investigators, Graves-Byrd had differences with Hector Gonzalez, believing that Gonzalez had broken the rear window of his car and threatened him.

Gonzalez entered a Pleasantville convenience store early on October 25, 2014, while his girlfriend, Shadaija Morgan, waited outside. Graves-Byrd entered a short time later.

When Gonzalez rejoined Morgan, Graves-Byrd approached and shot both of them with a .45-caliber handgun and, speeding away in a friend's car, threw the gun into the water below the Route 30-Absecon Boulevard drawbridge in Atlantic City, investigators said. The gun was never found.

Gonzalez took two bullets in the abdomen and another in the right arm, and was grazed on an inner thigh. Morgan was shot in the lower back. Both were hospitalized and recovered.

State authorities did not indicate whether Graves-Byrd's sentence would be adjusted to reflect time already in custody since the shooting.