Long Branch Man Admits Fatally Stabbing Another Local Man

LONG BRANCH, NJ — A Long Branch man admitted to fatally stabbing another local man in that city last March, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago announced Wednesday.

Nija Faust, 22, pleaded guilty to a single charge of first-degree aggravated manslaughter.

He stabbed Eren Kurkcu, 35, of Long Branch, on March 7 of last year, said the prosecutor. Santana Rivera-Cosme, 21, of Long Branch was also charged in connection with the crime. Rivera-Cosme previously pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree aggravated assault.

Police say that at 11:30 p.m. on that date, Kurkcu was standing on the sidewalk on Broadway. Faust, Rivera-Cosme and a woman walked by him, and words were exchanged. Police did not say what was said. However, an argument broke out.

Faust then started punching Kurkcu multiple times in the head, knocking him to the ground. Kurkcu pulled out a knife to defend himself, and then surveillance footage showed Faust pull out a large knife, which he used to stab Kurkcu more than eleven times, said police.

Kurkcu was found by Long Branch Police at 11:33 p.m. in the vicinity of the 200 block of Broadway, suffering from multiple stab wounds and bleeding heavily.

He was rushed to Monmouth Medical Center, where he stopped breathing on the operating table and had to be revived by ER doctors. However, Kurkcu died at the hospital a few hours later. He died from being stabbed more than 11 times and losing a massive amount of blood, said police.

Santana Rivera-Cosme, 21, of Long Branch was also charged in connection with the crime. Rivera-Cosme previously pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree aggravated assault.

Faust will be sentenced June 12, and the Monmouth County Prosecutor will ask that he serve 26 years in state prison, and must serve 85 percent of the sentence before he is available for parole.