Franklin Man Facing Murder Indictment In Shooting of Middlesex County Teen

A grand jury has handed up an indictment, charging a 20-year-old man with the murder of a 17-year-old New Brunswick boy.

Dequan Rogers, of Alcorn Street in Franklin Township, is accused of killing 17-year-old Joell Burton last year in the Somerset section of Franklin, authorities said.

The boy lived in the Paul Robeson Village housing complex in New Brunswick. He was found across the street, in Somerset, in the parking lot of the First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens, according to NJ.com.

The indictment also charges Rogers with possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose, unlawful possession of a handgun and underage possession of a handgun, according to a news release from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.

According to that news release:

At 9:12 p.m. Oct. 13, Franklin police were called to a parking lot on Somerset Street, where they found Burton, of Bergen Court, with a gunshot wound to his chest.

The boy was pronounced dead at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in the city.

Five minutes later, Franklin police received another 911 call, reporting a stabbing on nearby Victor Street. When police arrived, they found Rogers with a stab wound on his upper torso.

Local and county detectives determined that during a fight between Rogers and the teen, Rogers pulled out a handgun and shot the boy.

Mycentraljersey.com reported that Rogers was stabbed during that fight, which happened after the defendant and the teen crossed paths between Route 27 and Fuller Street in Somerset.

Rogers was arrested the following day and is being held at the Somerset County Jail, in lieu of $500,000 bail, authorities said.

Somerset County Assistant Prosecutor Robert J. Hawkes presented the case to the grand jury.