FREEHOLD, NJ – Two men have confessed to their involvement in a shooting that resulted in the deaths of an 18-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman early last year. Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago announced the news on Friday.
Gabriel J. Brathwaite, 20, of Keansburg, pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and a related weapons offense. He admitted to shooting Samore Edwards of Plainfield and Isaiah Williams of New Brunswick. Jeron D. Dearin, 24, from the Cliffwood section of Aberdeen, pleaded guilty to second-degree conspiracy to commit aggravated assault in connection with the incident.
On Wednesday, January 19, 2022, shortly before 8:15 PM, members of the Neptune Township Police Department discovered the two victims in a parked vehicle on the 1300 block of Washington Avenue. Edwards was pronounced dead at the scene, while Williams succumbed to his injuries at Jersey Shore University Medical Center.
Following a thorough investigation involving several law enforcement agencies, Brathwaite and Dearin were identified as suspects and arrested less than a month after the shooting. Sentencing has been tentatively scheduled for Thursday, December 7, where the state intends to recommend terms of 45 and 10 years, respectively, for Brathwaite and Dearin.
Both will need to serve 85% of each sentence before they are eligible for parole under New Jersey’s No Early Release Act (NERA).