Two Ocean County men indicted for murder at Toms River apartment complex
Two Ocean County men arrested for murdering a Brick man at the Hampton Gardens Apartments in Toms River in an apparent drug deal gone wrong are indicted on charges related to the homicide of Steven Stallworth, according to the Ocean County Prosecutors Office.
Before their arrest, the hotel room of Sevon Hill, 25, of Toms River and Shakar "Anthony" Barksdale, 24, of Seaside Heights was searched and they were found to have a large amount of heroin and cocaine inside the room.
The indictment stems from the investigation into the death of Stallworth, which was conducted by the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office Major Crimes Unit, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office High Tech Crimes Unit, the Toms River Police Department, the Ocean County Sherriff's Department Criminalistics Investigation Unit, New Jersey State Police, the Manchester Police Department, the Lacey Police Department, the Seaside Heights Police Department, and the Brick Police Department.
On March 5, 2018, around 9:19 pm Toms River Police responded to a 9-1-1 call reporting the discovery of an unresponsive male just outside the doorstep of an apartment located at 26 James Street.
Patrol officers found a black male, later identified as Steven Stallworth, unresponsive with an apparent gunshot wound.
He was pronounced dead at 10:34 pm.
The next day after a post mortem examination of the body, the cause of death was determined to be a gunshot wound.
The manner of death was ruled a homicide.
During the course of the investigation two suspects were identified, Sevon Hill and Shakar Barksdale who were residing at a local hotel prior to the murder.
Further investigation found that Hill and Barksdale entered into a conspiracy and did commit the murder of Stallworth.
The suspects had also relocated to a separate local hotel, and upon searching that hotel, investigators found undisclosed quantities of cocaine and heroin.
Both suspects currently remain incarcerated in the Ocean County Jail.
Supervising Assistant Ocean County Prosecutor Michael R. Weatherstone is prosecuting the case.
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