In the early evening of January 24, 2017, a sense of normalcy in a Sicklerville, New Jersey neighborhood was shattered by a single gunshot. Twenty-year-old Michael Branham, a male resident of Sicklerville, was sitting in his vehicle on Victoria Manor Court when he was fatally wounded. Responding to a 911 call at approximately 5:54 p.m., police discovered the young man suffering from a gunshot wound. He was rushed to Kennedy University Hospital in nearby Washington Township, but his life could not be saved, and he was pronounced dead at about 7:10 p.m.
The investigation into the homicide moved swiftly, and within weeks, a suspect was in custody. On February 15, 2017, members of the U.S. Marshals Service Regional Fugitive Task Force apprehended 18-year-old Aaron Aycox of Williamstown in Camden. Aycox was subsequently charged with first-degree murder in connection with Branham's death.
He was then remanded to the Camden County Jail to await a pretrial detention hearing.
As the case proceeded, details emerged suggesting the tragic incident stemmed from a robbery that had gone terribly wrong. According to witness testimony, Aycox had allegedly planned to rob Branham during a drug transaction. One witness reported seeing Branham's vehicle enter Victoria Manor Court shortly before hearing the gunshot and then seeing Aycox fleeing the scene. Another witness stated that Aycox had admitted to the shooting, explaining that the intended robbery had not gone as planned. Following a hearing, Aycox was ordered to be detained pending his trial.
