Atlantic City Man Arrested In Absecon Hotel Murder: Police

ABSECON, NJ — An Atlantic City man charged last year in connection with a fatal shooting that took place at an Absecon motel in 2015 has been arrested, Atlantic County Prosecutor Damon G. Tyner said on Tuesday. Donnell Nicholas was arrested without incident at a home on the 300 block of Rosemont Avenue in Atlantic City. He is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday.

Nicholas is charged with felony murder, conspiracy to commit robbery, possession of a handgun for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a handgun without obtaining a warrant.

He was one of four men hit with these charges in August. Three other men were charged with gun and drug possession charges in the fatal shooting of two men inside the Red Roof Inn on East Absecon Boulevard on March 1, 2015. It was early that morning that police found the bodies of 22-year-old Diante Owens, of Pleasantville, and 22-year-old Gerald Alvarez, of Hamilton Township.

Autopsies by New Jersey Medical Examiner's Office later determined that Owens died from a gunshot wound to the chest and Alvarez died from multiple gunshot wounds. Later that morning, Nicholas and 22-year-old Zackery M. Geckeler, of Galloway Township, arrived at the AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, both with gunshot injuries.

They were among the men charged following an 18-month investigation by the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office Major Crimes Unit and the Absecon Police Department, with help from the Atlantic City, the Pleasantville, the Galloway Township, the Hamilton Township, and Egg Harbor Township police departments.

Nicholas; 25-year-old Brian Bennett, of Pleasantville; 20-year-old Aaquile Reeves, of Absecon; and 22-year-old Tywan Dixon, of Pleasantville, were all charged with the same charges mentioned above.

Geckeler, 22-year-old Trevor Murray, of Hamilton Township and 23-year-old Ashley Villari, of Hamilton Township, were all charged with possession of xanax with intent to distribute, possession of a handgun while committing a controlled dangerous substance offense, unlawful possession of a knife, possession of a handgun for an unlawful purpose, and unlawful possession of a handgun without obtaining a permit to carry.
Murray was also charged with possession of a weapon (firearm and knife) by a convicted felon.

Bennett and Reeves were both arrested on Aug. 23, 2016. Villari was arrested the following day. Murray also surrendered to police on Aug. 24, 2016. Dixon was arrested on Aug. 30, 2016, in Maryland, and extradited to New Jersey the following day.

Anyone with information about this shooting is asked to call the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit at 609-909-7666.

The attached image was previously provided by the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office