Hearing For Accused Shooter In Trenton Standoff Postponed

A pretrial detention hearing for the man accused of fatally shooting an innocent bystander during a standoff in Trenton last week has been postponed, according to The Trentonian. The postponement occurred two days after 35-year-old Tyleeb Reese failed to appear for his initial court appearance on Tuesday. He is charged with murder in the death of 56-year-old Robert Powell Jr.

The hearing is now scheduled for Tuesday, May 23, 1:30 p.m., according to the report. It had been scheduled for Thursday. The hearing will determine whether Reese must remain in jail until his trial or if he can be released with certain conditions.

The standoff began at about 6:30 a.m. last Wednesday, May 10, when authorities attempted to serve him a warrant for failure to appear in court on an issue related to a Megan’s Law offense.

In 2006, Reese sexually assaulted a child between the ages of 13 and 16 in Trenton, according to NJ 101.5. He was sentenced to over a year in jail in 2010. In 2013, he was charged with not registering as a sex offender under Megan’s Law, and served 47 days in jail.

Powell, a father of six who was expecting a grandchild, was fatally shot in the first few minutes of the incident while he was walking home from a local store. Police said he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

For the next 35 hours, police attempted to get Reese out of the home to no avail until Reese surrendered Thursday evening. Three Mercer County Sheriff’s officers were hospitalized after being shot, but were released soon thereafter. No one else, including Reese, was shot during the standoff, according to authorities.

Following his arrest, he complained of chest pains and was taken to a local hospital. He was released from the hospital on Monday, according to the prosecutor's office.

Attached image of Tyleeb Reese was provided by the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office