TOMS RIVER, NJ – Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer announced that yesterday, Deshaun Porter, 29, of Newark, pleaded guilty to Aggravated Assault, two counts of being a Certain Person Not to Possess a Weapon, and Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose. The charges are connected to incidents that occurred on November 3 and November 6, 2020, in Toms River.
The case began on November 6, 2020, when officers from the Toms River Township Police Department were called to an apartment on James Street following a report of a female victim being held against her will by a male suspect, later identified as Porter, with whom she had been in a relationship. Upon the arrival of the officers at approximately 9:00 a.m., Porter fled the apartment. The responding officers determined that Porter had arrived at the apartment around 4:00 a.m., held the female victim at gunpoint, and refused to let her leave. Further investigation revealed that the events at the apartment on James Street originated as a result of an earlier incident that occurred on November 3, 2020, at the Howard Johnson’s Hotel in Toms River. On that date, Porter forced his way into a hotel room, threatened the occupants with a handgun, and struck the same female victim in the face.
Porter is set to be sentenced on June 2, 2023, with the State recommending a total of seven years in New Jersey State Prison (NJSP) for the Aggravated Assault charge, subject to the terms of the No Early Release Act, as well as five years NJSP with a five-year period of parole ineligibility for each Certain Person charge, and five years NJSP with a parole ineligibility period of 42 months for the Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose charge. The sentences will run concurrently.