Man Pleads Guilty In Fatal Shooting At Hookah Lounge In Toms River

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Monmouth County man has pleaded guilty in a fatal shooting at a hookah lounge in Toms River in 2022, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said.

Eric Manzanares, 26, of Asbury Park, pleaded guilty on Friday to one count of aggravated manslaughter and two counts of aggravated assault in the Aug. 27, 2022, shooting at Top Tier Hookah Lounge that killed Nymere Tinsley, 25, of Brick Township, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

Manzanares is scheduled to be sentenced by Superior Court Judge Guy P. Ryan on April 24, and prosecutors will be seeking a term of 23 years in prison on the aggravated manslaughter charge and 10 years in prison on each of the aggravated assault charges, the prosecutor's office said. The sentences will be subject to the No Early Release Act, which requires 85 percent of the sentence be served before he becomes eligible for parole, and the sentences are to be served concurrently, which means he will have to serve 19.55 years before he is eligible for parole.

Tinsley was shot about 1:20 a.m. at the lounge, 1769 Hooper Ave., and died at the scene, authorities said. Anthony Miller, 29, of Neptune Township, and Jamal Bland, 24, of Asbury Park, were taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune. Miller was shot in the stomach and Bland suffered a gunshot wound to his elbow; both were treated and later released from the hospital.

Investigators determined Manzanares was responsible for the shooting, and he was charged later that day with murder, attempted murder, aggravated assault, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and unlawful possession of a weapon.

A warrant for Manzanares's arrest was issued; he was arrested in Virginia in April 2023, and extradicted to New Jersey on Jan. 24, 2024. He has been held in the Ocean County Jail since then.