Monmouth County news photographer was murdered because he was white, suspect admits

Charlie Dwyer
A Monmouth County Jury has returned guilty verdicts on the most serious charges against the man who attacked and killed a stranger in Freehold Township four and a half years ago, solely because of the victim’s race, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago announced Friday.

FREEHOLD, NJ – Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago announced today that the death of 56-year-old Jerry Wolkowitz on May 1, 2018 was racially motivated. According to Santiago, Jamil Hubbard, 30, of Sayreville attacked and murdered Wolkowitz simply because he was white.

Hubbard was convicted by a jury of first-degree murder, bias intimidation, eluding and theft. It is not known whether or not Hubbard knew Wolkowitz was Jewish at the time of the attack.

According to police, at around 7:15 a.m. on the morning of Tuesday, May 1, 2018, Freehold Township Police Department police officers responded to the Chesterfield Apartments on Harding Road on a report of a physical altercation involving a person struck by a vehicle.

“At that location they found Wolkowitz in the apartment complex’s parking lot, having sustained severe injuries to his head, abdomen, and back. Wolkowitz was subsequently rushed to Jersey Shore University Medical Center for emergency treatment,” police said in a report at the time of the killing.


Detectives determined the victim’s car was missing and was later spotted with Hubbard operating it. Police engaged in a pursuit that ended in Sayreville near Hubbard’s home in the Winding Woods Apartment complex.


The Sayreville Police Department later revealed that Hubbard was in the area that morning because he had slept in his vehicle overnight, having engaged in an argument with his ex-girlfriend, a resident of the apartment complex, the night before.

“When he woke up, he told investigators, he spotted Wolkowitz walking nearby and decided to try to kill him because he was white, initially attacking him from behind with punches and kicks before stealing his wallet and car keys. He also told investigators he dragged the victim into the parking lot and ran him over,” prosecutors determined.

Wolkowitz died from his injuries on October 18, 2018. A Monmouth County Grand Jury returned a seven-count indictment against Hubbard in March 2019.

“This was the textbook definition of a senseless crime, and as our prosecuting team astutely noted in their closing argument, ‘senseless’ does not mean ‘insane,’” Acting Prosecutor Santiago said. “Mr. Wolkowitz was an innocent victim, minding his own business and on his way home from work, when his life was snuffed out over something as trivial as the color of his skin. Such a monstrous act necessitates that justice be served, and we sincerely thank the jury in this case for carefully weighing the evidence and reaching the appropriate conclusion.”

Wolkowitz was a member of the Freehold First Aid and Emergency Squad for over 25 years and a member of the New Jersey Press Photographers Association. He was a well-known news photographer for local papers for over 30 years.

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