Four Men Indicted In Toms River Man's Carjack Murder At Short Hills Mall

Four men have been indicted in connection with the carjack killing of a Toms River man at The Mall at Short Hills, according to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.

Basim Henry, 33, of South Orange, Hanif Thompson, 29, of Irvington and Karif Ford, 32, and Kevin Roberts, 35, both of Newark, and have been indicted on charges of murder, felony murder, carjacking, conspiracy and weapons offenses in connection with the Dec. 15, 2013 murder of Dustin Friedland, according to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.

Friedland, a 30-year-old Hoboken lawyer, was fatally shot in an upper level parking deck of the Mall at Short Hills. The four tried to carjack Friedland and his wife as they entered their Range Rover, according to the ECPO. The case is being handled by Assistant Prosecutor Ralph Amirata.

All four are scheduled to be arraigned on the charges on Oct. 14 before the Honorable Judge Ronald D. Wigler, Presiding Judge of the Criminal Division.

Friedland was shot in the head when he and his wife returned to their SUV shortly after 9 p.m. the prosecutor’s office said. Friedland was pronounced dead at 11:45 p.m. at Morristown Medical Center. His wife was not injured but also transported to the hospital, the prosecutor’s office said.

Friedland was fatally shot after struggling with the two carjackers, and Friedland’s wife was then ordered out of the vehicle before the two thieves drove off, authorities said. The couple’s Range Rover was recovered a day later on the 200 block of Renner Avenue in Newark, the prosecutor’s office said.

Friedland, who lived in Hoboken, was originally from Toms River, according to his Facebook page. Nick Malfitano, a Patch writer who was Friedland’s classmate at Toms River North, said Friedland was “a good man and a great classmate of mine at Toms River North who made life better for everyone around him.”

The shooting briefly placed the mall on lockdown as a precaution. The lockdown was lifted when officials determined the shooting was an isolated incident and not a shooting inside the mall.

Pictured: Dustin Friedland and his wife.