Man Accused Of Killing Father Of 6 During Trenton Standoff Indicted

A man accused of fatally shooting an innocent bystander during a 35-hour standoff in Trenton in May has been indicted, Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo J. Onofri said Thursday afternoon.

Tyleeb Reese, 35, of Trenton, has been indicted on 18 counts, including first-degree murder, seven counts of first-degree attempted murder, seven counts of second-degree aggravated assault, second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, third-degree burglary and third-degree resisting arrest. He remains in the Mercer County Correction Center.

The standoff began at about 6:30 a.m. on 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.

Within the first few minutes of the standoff, 56-year-old Robert Powell Jr. was shot while he was walking home from the store. Powell was a father of six who was expecting a grandchild.

For the next 35 hours, police attempted to get Reese out of the home to no avail until Reese surrendered on Thursday afternoon, May 11. 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.

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.

Despite having been indicted, every defendant is presumed innocent until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The attached image of Tyleeb Reese was provided by the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office