On a Tuesday evening, November 8, 2011, the life of 22-year-old Eric Tyquan Freeman, a Black male from Neptune, New Jersey, was tragically cut short. In the Asbury Park Village housing complex, near the intersection of Adams Street and Sylvan Way, Freeman was shot multiple times at close range. The incident occurred at approximately 6:18 p.m., prompting numerous 911 calls to the Asbury Park Police Department.
Despite being rushed to the nearby Jersey Shore University Medical Center, his injuries proved fatal, and he was pronounced dead at 6:58 p.m.
The investigation that followed was a joint effort between the Asbury Park Police Department and the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office. Their work led them to identify a suspect, Thaddeus Reevey, a 23-year-old man also from Neptune Township. Authorities determined that Reevey had approached Freeman and fired a gun at him three times. This act was later described by the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office as a cold-blooded murder.
Following the investigation, Thaddeus Reevey was arrested and subsequently indicted by a Monmouth County Grand Jury on September 17, 2012. The charges brought against him were first-degree murder and second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. Reevey's bail was set at $1.5 million, and he remained in custody at the Monmouth County Correctional Institution. After a three-week trial in March 2016, a jury found Reevey guilty on both charges. He was later sentenced to 45 years in state prison for the murder, with a stipulation that he must serve 85 percent of his sentence before becoming eligible for parole. He also received a concurrent six-year sentence for the weapons charge.
