Murder In Long Branch Restaurant: Man Gets 38 Years In Prison

LONG BRANCH, NJ — A Long Branch man who shot and killed a man inside a restaurant in 2018, and also nearly killed his ex-girlfriend and her five-year-old child, has been sentenced to 40 years in prison.

The sentence requires that Miguel Camara, 42, serve 38 years with parole ineligibility.

When he is released from prison, Camara will also face deportation back to his home country of Portugal, said Monmouth County Prosecutor Chris Gramiccioni.

According to the county prosecutor, at 3:15 p.m. on August 21, 2018 Camara walked into the Bom DMais luncheonette, a Brazilian take-out eatery on Broadway.

He went up to the table where his ex-girlfriend Fernanda Silva, her two children, ages 18 and 5, and another man, Marco Moreira, were seated.

Camara threw a final restraining order obtained by Silva less than a month earlier on the table, pulled out a handgun and pointed it at Moreira’s head several times before shooting him. A struggle then ensued between Silva, her 18-year-old son and Camara for the gun. During the struggle Camara repeatedly pointed the gun at Silva, firing it twice but missing her.

Silva’s five-year-old daughter was a few feet away during the struggle.

A driver flagged down a nearby Long Branch police officer, who ran to the restaurant and saw Silva, her son and another man wrestling with Camara, trying to get the gun from him.

Officer George Samol unholstered his duty weapon and ordered Camara to drop the gun. As Silva's son tried to get control over Camara’s gun, Camara immediately turned to the police officer and grabbed a hold of his duty weapon, trying to take possession of it, said the prosecutor.

Officer Samol was able to wrestle the gun from Camara as additional Long Branch police officers arrived on scene.

After Camara was placed under arrest, officers observed Moreira lying dead on the floor of the restaurant. He was pronounced dead at 3:38 p.m. that day.

Camara previously pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, first-degree attempted murder and third-degree endangering the welfare of a child.