Lakewood Man Who Shot 4-Year-Old Girl Gets 8 Years In Prison

FREEHOLD, NJ — A Lakewood man has been sentenced to eight years in prison for shooting a 4-year-old girl in Asbury Park, the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office announced Wednesday.

Sciaire N. Jackson, 28, was sentenced Wednesday by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Lourdes Lucas. The sentence is subject to the provisions of the No Early Release Act, requiring Jackson to serve 85 percent of the sentence before becoming eligible for parole, Acting Prosecutor Lori Linskey said.

Jackson pleaded guilty on June 21 to second-degree aggravated assault and second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose in the Aug. 18, 2020, shooting of the 4-year-old girl at Boston Way, a residential village in Asbury Park.

The girl was sitting outside her family's home about 1:30 p.m. when she was shot in the thigh, breaking her femur. Physicians who treated her deemed it serious but not life-threatening, Linskey said.

Investigators found Jackson rode up on a bicycle and began firing a handgun at several people located outside an apartment. The girl was playing outside and was not the intended target of the shooting, Linskey said.

A second person shot at Jackson; that person, has not yet been identified, she said.

The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the Asbury Park Police Department investigated.

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