Man Pleads Guilty To Punching, Threatening Ex-Girlfriend With Gun In Toms River

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Newark man has pleaded guilty to punching and threatening his ex-girlfriend with a handgun, then holding her at gunpoint in two incidents in Toms River in 2020, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office announced.

Deshaun A. Porter, 29, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to aggravated assault, two counts of being a certain person not to possess a weapon, and possession a weapon for an unlawful purpose before Superior Court Judge Kenneth T. Palmer, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

On Nov. 3, 2020, Porter forced his way into a room at the Howard Johnson motel in Toms River, where he threatened the occupants with a handgun and punched a woman in the face, authorities said.

The woman had been in a relationship with Porter, authorities said.

Three days later, on Nov. 6, Toms River police were called about 9 a.m. to an apartment on James Street and told the woman was being held inside against her will by a man later identified as Porter.

As police arrived, Porter ran away. Police learned Porter had arrived at the apartment about 4 a.m. and had held the woman at gunpoint, refusing to allow her to leave. It was during the investigation of that incident that they learned about Porter's actions at the Howard Johnson motel, authorities said.

Authorities issued a warrant for Porter's arrest on Nov. 6, 2020, and on Dec. 9, 2020, he was arrested in Atlantic City by the U.S. Marshals Service, the Atlantic City Metro Task Force, and New Jersey State Police.

He has been held in the Ocean County Jail in Toms River since his arrest.

Porter is scheduled to be sentenced on June 2, and Billhimer said the prosecutor's office is going to recommend a term of seven years in jail on the aggravated assault charge, subject to the terms of the No Early Release Act. In addition, prosecutors are going to recommend five years in prison, with five years of parole ineligibility, on the charges of certain persons not to possess a weapon, and five years in prison with 42 months of parole ineligibility on possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. The sentences are to run concurrently.

Senior Assistant Prosecutor Jamie Schron and Assistant Prosecutor Alyssa Mandara are handling the case on behalf of the state. The Toms River Police Department, Ocean County Sheriff’s Office, New Jersey State Police, Atlantic City Metro Task Force, and U.S. Marshals Service, combined on the investigation.