On a tragic night in March 2021, the life of 25-year-old Sadiel Gonzalez was cut short by a burst of gunfire in the parking lot of the Orchard Park Apartments in Edgewater Park, New Jersey. Gonzalez, a resident of the complex, was in the driver's seat of his car when the shooting occurred in the early morning hours of March 27th. He was pronounced dead at the scene, along with another occupant of the vehicle, 18-year-old Altarrek Bell of North Carolina. Two other passengers in the car were fortunate to escape without injury.
The investigation into the double homicide revealed that the events of that night began with a dispute at a water ice store in nearby Willingboro. Following this confrontation, Gonzalez’s vehicle was followed to the apartment complex. As Gonzalez was parking his car, another vehicle pulled alongside, and multiple shots were fired into his car before the assailants sped off into the night.
The brutal and sudden nature of the attack left the community in shock and mourning the loss of two young lives.
In the months that followed, law enforcement agencies worked diligently to bring those responsible to justice. Their investigation led them to two suspects from Willingboro. In July 2021, Andre Price, then 33, was apprehended in Virginia by the U.S. Marshals' Fugitive Task Force. Later, in April 2023, a second suspect, 37-year-old Yefaan Thompson, was taken into custody. Both men were charged with two counts of murder and various weapons offenses in connection with the deaths of Sadiel Gonzalez and Altarrek Bell. Price was indicted by a grand jury in September 2021, and both men were held in the Burlington County Jail pending trial.
