South Jersey Man Indicted for Attempted Murder in Alleged Ongoing Feud

An Atlantic County man has been indicted for allegedly shooting a man and a woman outside a convenience store in October due to an ongoing feud over a friendship between the defendant and the female victim.

The victims were injured, but survived the attack, Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman said on Tuesday.

Andre Graves-Byrd, 25, of Pleasantville, was indicted on two counts of first-degree attempted murder as well as counts of second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and fourth-degree tampering with physical evidence.

Graves-Byrd was a longtime friend of the female victim, Shadaija Morgan, which allegedly made her boyfriend, Hector Gonzalez, jealous.

Graves-Byrd encountered Gonzalez in a convenience store near North Main Street and Pleasantville Avenue in Pleasantville just after midnight on Oct. 25, 2014. Morgan was waiting outside.

After Gonzalez left the store and met Morgan, Graves-Byrd allegedly approached and opened fire with a .45-caliber handgun.

Gonzalez was hit twice in the abdomen and once in the right arm, and he received a graze wound to his inner thigh.

Morgan was shot in the lower back.

Both victims were hospitalized but recovered from their wounds.

Graves-Byrd allegedly fled in a car driven by another man. Graves-Byrd allegedly threw the gun in the water under the Route 30/Absecon Boulevard drawbridge in Atlantic City. Police searched the water under the bridge but didn’t recover the gun.

Each count of attempted murder carries a sentence of 10 to 20 years in state prison, with a period of parole ineligibility equal to 85 percent of the sentence imposed.

The weapons charges carry a sentence of five to 10 years in state prison, with a mandatory minimum term of parole ineligibility equal to one-third to one-half of the sentence imposed or 3 ½ years, whichever is greater.

The attached image of Andrew Graves-Byrd was provided by the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office.