Egg Harbor City Man Charged in Absecon Man's Death

An Egg Harbor City man has been charged with manslaughter in the death of a 30-year-old Absecon man, Atlantic County Prosecutor Jim McClain announced on Tuesday.

Zachariah Mays, 24, has been charged with aggravated assault and reckless manslaughter in the death of Kyle Athill.

Mays allegedly punched Athill in the head in a parking lot in Pleasantville on Feb. 15. Pleasantville Police responded to the scene on the 800 block of Main Street, where they found Athill lying on the ground, unconscious.

He was transported to AtlantiCare Medical Center City Division, with a life-threatening head injury.

On Feb. 17, Mays was charged with aggravated assault following a two-day investigation conducted by the Pleasantville Police Department and the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit.

Athill was pronounced dead at 10:40 a.m. on Feb. 18, at the hospital.

An autopsy performed by Dr. Daksha Shah of the State Medical Examiner’s Office on Feb. 20 determined the cause of death to be massive head trauma, and the manner of death to be homicide.

The reckless manslaughter charge was added on Monday. Bail was set at $250 full cash.

The charge of manslaughter carries a potential sentence upon conviction of 5 to 10 years of incarceration in New Jersey State prison, subject to the No Early Release Act (NERA), which mandates parole ineligibility until 85% of the sentence has been served.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact Det. William Carew of the ACPO Major Crimes 609-909-7666, or Sgt. Vaughn Howze of the Pleasantville Police at 609-641-6100.