Murder Indictment For Galloway Man In Pleasantville Shooting

GALLOWAY, NJ — A Galloway man already facing a decade in prison on a separate charge was indicted on murder charges in the May shooting of a Pleasantville man, the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office said.

Kalief Lyons, 35, was indicted by an Atlantic County Grand Jury for murder and associated weapons offenses on Tuesday in connection with the May 9 shooting, officials said.

About a month ago, Lyons was sentenced to state prison following a November 2022 road rage incident. Read more: Galloway Man Charged With Murder Sentenced On Separate Charge

Lyons previously pleaded guilty to the road rage 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.

Then, just after 11 p.m. on May 9, 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.