In the early evening of January 16, 2022, the quiet of the Fox Meadow apartment complex in Maple Shade, New Jersey, was shattered by the sound of gunfire. When police arrived at the scene on Gardenia Drive just before 6:30 p.m., they discovered 32-year-old Ezekiel Sanders Jr. suffering from gunshot wounds. He was rushed to Jefferson Hospital in Cherry Hill but was pronounced dead a short time later, at 7:20 p.m. An autopsy would later confirm that he had been shot in the arm and chest. Sanders was a Black/African American male.
The initial investigation suggested that Sanders was the victim of a drive-by shooting. Witnesses reported that a vehicle was seen speeding away from the parking lot immediately after the shots were fired.
For months, the case remained under investigation by the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office and the Maple Shade Police Department, as they sought to bring those responsible to justice.
The first significant break in the case came in June 2022, when authorities arrested 23-year-old Teon Macklin-Goodwine of Clementon. He was charged with first-degree murder, robbery, and several weapons-related offenses for his role in the death of Ezekiel Sanders Jr. He was subsequently lodged in the Burlington County Jail. The investigation continued, leading to a second arrest in April 2023. Gregory Berry, 22, of Glassboro, was taken into custody in West Deptford. He faced a similar slate of serious charges, including first-degree murder, murder during the commission of a crime, and first-degree robbery. Both men are awaiting further legal proceedings.
