Parents Aided Teen Accused Of Killing Woman: Prosecutor

The parents of a Paulsboro man who has been arrested and charged in the murder of a 26-year-old South Jersey woman have been charged with hindering apprehension, the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office announced on Monday.

David A. Wilson, 52, and 50-year-old Kim Ward have each been charged with third-degree hindering apprehension of their son by cleaning and concealing sneakers that were evidence in the homicide investigation.

Their son, 19-year-old Brandon Wilson of Paulsboro, is charged with first-degree murder; third-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose; fourth-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose; two counts of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child; second-degree burglary during which a death occurred and third-degree hindering his own apprehension in the death of 26-year-old Shawneeq M. Carter, of Camden.

Carter was killed while house sitting a home in Woodbury. Police found her body on Sept. 23, but it was previously reported that her son and a cousin — both five years old — discovered her body a day earlier, but didn't seek help until the following day.

Wilson called his parents from Cape May County Jail, where he was being held on unrelated charges, on Oct. 27 and “requested that they throw out two pair of sneakers” in his room in their house, according to the probable cause statement filed in connection with the charges against the parents.

When investigators executed a search warrant at their home the same day, they found the sneakers in the attic, according to the prosecutor’s office. They “appeared to have been cleaned with some type of solution,” the statement reads.

Police were searching for the sneakers after detectives discovered a shoe imprint on the rear door of the home during the course of the two-month investigation. The sneakers and other physical evidence, including Carter's shirt and a piece of gym equipment that was used in the murder, were ultimately used to link Wilson to the crime.

Authorities believe Brandon Wilson's intent was to rob the house. It's a house Wilson was familiar with, as he lived there as a foster child for less than a year back in 2015. About a month before the murder, he was arrested for unlawful trespass in the same house. He was found guilty of that offense and obstruction of justice for providing false information. He was released from jail two days before Carter's body was found.

He was also caught on surveillance video on Hopkins Street, where the house is located, the night before Carter was found dead, according to the probable cause statement.

The parents were charged at the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office on Friday, processed and released.
The Woodbury Police Department assisted in the investigation into the hindering charges.

See related: South Jersey Woman Killed While House Sitting: Prosecutor

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Photo courtesy of family and friends of Shawneeq M. Carter