On the evening of March 5, 2018, Steven E. Stallworth, a 30-year-old Black/African American male from Brick, New Jersey, was found unresponsive with a fatal gunshot wound outside an apartment building in Toms River. Police and emergency medical services were dispatched to the Hampton Gardens Apartments on James Street around 9:20 p.m., where Stallworth was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy conducted by the Ocean County Medical Examiner confirmed that his death was a homicide caused by a single gunshot wound.
The investigation that followed uncovered a plot to murder Stallworth to cancel a significant drug debt. Investigators identified two men responsible for his death: Anthony Barksdale Jr., 26, of New York, and Sevon Hill. Prosecutors revealed that Hill owed Stallworth between $10,000 and $40,000 for drugs and that he and Barksdale conspired to kill him. On the night of the murder, Barksdale lured Stallworth to the apartment complex and shot him.
A large quantity of cocaine and heroin was discovered in a motel room that Barksdale and Hill were sharing.
In August 2018, both Barksdale and Hill were indicted on multiple counts related to Stallworth's death. Sevon Hill pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter and other charges in October 2019. In June 2020, following a trial that was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, a jury found Anthony Barksdale guilty of murder. He was subsequently sentenced in August 2020 to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Hill received a 20-year prison sentence for his role in the crime.
Steven Stallworth was born on September 6, 1987, in Freehold, New Jersey, and was raised in Lakewood, where he graduated from Lakewood High School. Known affectionately as 'S' or 'Dot,' he was remembered for his lively and comical personality and a smile that could 'melt your heart.' He had aspirations of attending trade school to become a heavy equipment operator with the goal of starting his own business. He was a father to two daughters, Aeriel and Arianna Stallworth.
