Defense Calls Evidence In New Jersey Party Shooting Circumstantial

CBS Philadelphia

August 17, 2021

The attorney for a man accused of having killed two of three people slain during a birthday party in New Jersey earlier this year says the case against his client is entirely circumstantial.

Zedekiah Holmes, 21, of Millville, is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Kevin Elliot, 30, and Asia Hester, 25, in the May 22 gunfire at the Fairfield Township home. Holmes is the older brother of the third person killed, Brailyn Holmes, 19, of Millville; no one has been charged in her death.

During Tuesday’s detention hearing, defense attorney John Morris challenged whether prosecutors had adequate evidence to support the charges, NJ.com reported. Morris said no eyewitnesses appear to have implicated his client as having been involved and there has to be “at least a well-grounded suspicion” that he is the one to be charged.

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