Baseball-Bat Murder, Police Standoff Lands BurlCo Man 90 Years In Prison

BEVERLY, NJ — A man who killed a victim with a baseball bat and then barricaded himself inside a Beverly home with a woman and four children was sentenced Tuesday to 90 years in prison.

Larry Brown, 29, must spend 73 years behind bars before parole eligibility in the sentence handed down in Burlington County Superior Court. He would be 102 years old at that point.

A jury convicted Brown in March for the June 2022 slaying of Cecilio Luciano and the ensuing barricade, which create an hours-long standoff with law enforcement.

Early in the morning on June 14, 2022, Beverly City police received word that Brown killed Luciano, 34, at a Bentley Avenue home and was still inside with the woman and children. When Brown refused to exit, authorities called in State Police crisis negotiators.

The woman and kids emerged unharmed over the next several hours, according to the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office (BCPO). Brown came out at about 8:30 a.m. that day and was arrested.

Authorities then entered the home and found Luciano's body. An autopsy performed by the county medical examiner indicated that Luciano, of Highland Park, was bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat, the BCPO said.

Brown primarily lived with a relative in Burlington Township at the time, authorities said.

The standoff led the Beverly School District to cancel classes for the day.

A jury deliberated for several hours throughout three days, finding Brown guilty of:

• first-degree murder
• first-degree kidnapping (five counts)
• second-degree unlawful possession of a handgun
• third-degree endangering the welfare of a child
• third-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose
• third-degree certain persons not to have weapons
• third-degree making terroristic threats
• fourth-degree unlawful possession of a weapon