'He Was Delusional:' Drugs Reportedly Involved In 2018 Freehold Highway Murder

FREEHOLD, NJ — The murder trial of the man who allegedly shot at a Freehold woman in the head in May 2018, killing her next to her boyfriend and one-year-old baby, had its final arguments on Thursday.

Statements from both sides helped shine a light on the events that led then 34-year-old Kader Mustafa to allegedly shoot at a complete stranger from one moving car to the other at the Route 33 exit ramp for Halls Mill Road.

The defense attorney made a request for diminished capacity, arguing that Mustafa was taking more Adderall than prescribed — as much as five pills in four or five hours — which led him to act delusional.

"He was paranoid, he was delusional, he was acting psychotically," attorney Jack Venturi said. "He was feeling prosecuted. He thought he was being stalked, (...) that people were conspiring against him."

The prosecution, however, pointed out that the abuse of Adderall was Mustafa's choice and "not an affliction."

"And he was making bad ones," Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor John Loughrey said. "The abuse of the Adderall (...) and the demons that created inside the defendant, I submit to you, is what led to the tragedy of Thursday, May third of 2018."

Judge Vincent N. Falcetano Jr. declined the argument of diminished capacity, stating that there was no medical evidence, even though testimony heard in the case confirmed Mustafa's "bizarre behavior."

According to evidence, Mustafa had aluminum foil wrapped around him in the form of a blanket and headwear on the night of the incident.

"He took all of those, you could call them weird and strange measures, to protect himself from being infected by radiation, by electromagnetic frequencies, by concentrated microwave," Venturi said.

In his final arguments, the defense attorney argued that Mustafa did not intend to kill 24-year-old Sciasia Calhoun and that the shot that hit Calhoun was "was a one in a million, maybe one in a billion tragedy."

Loughrey pointing out that Mustafa regularly practiced the use of guns at shooting ranges.

"He had intensity, he had focus. He was fueled by anger and Adderall," the prosecutor said. "He refused to let her get away. It wasn't a warning shot. It wasn't accidental. He aimed with anger and pulled the trigger with fury."

The prosecutor also pointed out that the shot could have resulted in the death of all three passengers if Calhoun hadn't managed to stop the car in one of her last moments of life.

He also said that aggravated manslaughter didn't fit the facts.

"He consciously decided (...) that he was going to shoot the person who had the temerity to flash their lights in his rearview mirror," he said. "If he wanted to scare them, he could have. But that's not what he wanted to do. He wanted to kill the person that he felt deserve it on that night."

READ MORE: Man Indicted In Fatal Shooting On Route 33: Prosecutor

The prosecutor described the incident as "five minutes of hell on Halls Mill Road."

Calhoun was shot minutes before 11:44 p.m. when her boyfriend called 9-1-1. She was taken to CentraState Medical Center and pronounced dead at 12:46 a.m.

An excerpt of the 9-1-1 call by Calhoun’s boyfriend was played during the trial.

"She got shot in the head. The bullet hit her right on the f--king head," he is heard yelling, after seconds of the operator trying to calm him down.

Mustafa was arrested in Manalapan the next day at 8:10 a.m., while he was inside of his 2004 Chevrolet Impala. Police found two guns inside the car, according to Asbury Park Press.

A superior court judge ordered Mustafa to remain in jail until his trial after prosecutors argued that he posed a threat to society because of the random nature of the shooting, the publication reported.

The Hightstown resident was charged with one count of murder, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, two counts of unlawful possession of a weapon and two counts of endangering another person.

He pled not guilty to the charges. If found guilty by the jury, he faces a minimum of 30 years in prison without parole and a maximum life sentence.

The 12-person jury will reconvene next Tuesday to deliberate.