Indicted Brick Man Shot Victim During Burglary: Prosecutor

FREEHOLD, NJ — A Brick Township man has been indicted on charges of attempted murder and burglary in connection with an October shooting in Monmouth County, officials said Monday.

Donovan Wesley, 25, of Brick Township, was indicted by a Monmouth County grand jury in the shooting in a Long Branch apartment that seriously injured a 31-year-old man, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni said Monday.

Wesley is accused of going to the apartment on West Columbus Place in the early hours of Sunday, Oct. 8, following an argument with the victim and shooting him multiple times, Gramiccioni said. Authorities responded to a 911 call reporting shots fired and found the victim wounded, he said.

The victim was treated for his injuries at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune, and released a few days later, the prosecutor said.

A joint investigation by the prosecutor's office and the Long Branch Police Department revealed Wesley shot the victim after the two men got into a verbal disagreement earlier in the evening, Gramiccioni said. Wesley then arrived at the victim’s home and confronted the victim before shooting him during a brief struggle, he said.

Wesley fled and was arrested 10 days laterby the U.S. Marshal's Service and Monmouth County sheriff's officers.

Wesley was indicted on one count each of second-degree armed burglary, first-degree attempted murder, second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and first-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, Gramiccioni saod.

The burglary charge carries a sentence of 5 to 10 years, and the attempted muurder charge carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison, with both subject to the state's No Early Release Act.

Image via Shutterstock