Galloway Man Charged With Murder While Awaiting Separate Sentencing

GALLOWAY, NJ — A Galloway man has been charged with murder and other weapons offenses in connection with the death of another Galloway man in Pleasantville last week, authorities said.

Kalief Lyons, 35, just two months ago pleaded guilty to a separate incident and was released from the Atlantic County Justice Facility to home detention without a bracelet while awaiting sentencing to state prison, the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office said.

Now, Lyons is in custody pending a detention hearing for the shooting on May 9, authorities said. It was just after 11 p.m. that night when the Pleasantville Police Department received a shot spotter alert for multiple gunshots in the area of 9 West Pleasant Ave, officials said.

Police arrived to find Baseem Taliaferro, 38, inside the first floor apartment with a gunshot wound to his chest, officials said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

A witness told officers that an argument had occurred between Lyons and several other people in the area of the apartment about 20 minutes before the shooting.

Following the argument, Lyons left the area, but surveillance captured him walking back towards the rear of 9 West Pleasant Ave. wearing a ski mask, authorities said. Lyons was then seen walking away from the area of the shooting approximately two minutes after and without wearing the ski mask.

Galloway police arrested Lyons about two-and-a-half hours after the shooting and found a 9mm handgun and "a large quantity of narcotics" on him, officials said. Lyons was also wearing the same clothing seen on the surveillance video going to and from the scene, according to authorities. Ballistics evidence confirmed that the handgun was the same one used to kill Taliaferro, officials said.

On March 4, 2024, Lyons had pleaded guilty to second-degree certain persons not to possess firearms. The recommended sentence is eight years in New Jersey State Prison with a mandatory period of parole ineligibility of five years. He was released by the court from the Atlantic County Justice Facility to home detention without a bracelet pending sentence over the State's objection, authorities said. Lyons' sentencing date for this charge is scheduled for May 28, 2024.

That charge is in connection with a Nov. 30, 2022 incident where Lyons had brandished a handgun in an apparent road rage incident, Galloway police previously said. Read more: Gun Shown, Threats Made In Galloway Road Rage Incident: Police

Later that day, police located the handgun in a vehicle Lyons previously occupied, prosecutors said. The handgun had an illegal large-capacity ammunition magazine with 13 illegal hollow point ammunition rounds in the magazine and one round in the chamber, according to authorities. Lyons was also found to be in possession of 75 wax folds of suspected heroin and five small rocks of suspected crack cocaine, officials said.