On a summer night in Avenel, New Jersey, a young man's life was cut short in a violent encounter at a local motel. Andrew Torres, a 21-year-old male, was at the Loop Inn Motel on June 21, 2017, when he was fatally shot. The incident unfolded as a planned robbery, tragically placing Torres in the wrong place at the wrong time.
That evening, another man, who was the intended target of the robbery, had been in a room at the motel with Torres and two women. The target had apparently attracted unwanted attention by displaying a significant amount of money on social media. This boast led to a group planning to rob him. When two men arrived at the motel room door, Andrew Torres was the one who answered. He was immediately shot upon opening the door.
In the aftermath of the shooting, another 24-year-old man from the Bronx, the robbery's target, was found critically injured. He was subsequently transported to University Hospital in Newark for treatment.
Andrew Torres was pronounced dead at the scene a little over thirty minutes after police arrived. The investigation into the violent robbery and murder soon pointed to several individuals.
One of the key figures behind the deadly plot was identified as Kasheen 'Kash' Samuels, a 34-year-old man from the Bronx. While not one of the two men who went to the door, investigators determined that Samuels was instrumental in planning the robbery. He had provided the firearm used in the commission of the crime and also received some of the jewelry that was stolen from one of the victims. Following a nine-day trial, a jury found Kasheen Samuels guilty of the felony murder of Andrew Torres, along with other charges related to the robbery.
