TOMS RIVER (OCPO News)- Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer announced that on September 30, 2021, Kendrick Coley, 29, of Little Egg Harbor, pled guilty to Aggravated Manslaughter in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:11-4a(1), before the Honorable Guy P. Ryan, J.S.C., relative to the stabbing death of Richard Pone during the evening hours of May 16, 2018 in Little Egg Harbor. At the time of his sentencing on December 3, 2021, the State will recommend a term of 20 years New Jersey State Prison, subject to the terms of the No Early Release Act, N.J.S.A. 2C:43-7.2.
On May 16, 2018, at approximately 8:15 p.m., Officers from the Little Egg Harbor Police Department responded to a 911 call in reference to a stabbing incident that had taken place at a residence on Maplewood Drive. Upon their arrival, Officers located Mr. Pone in an upstairs bedroom with multiple stab wounds; he was pronounced deceased at the scene at approximately 8:40 p.m. A subsequent investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit and Little Egg Harbor Police Department Detective Bureau determined that Coley had stabbed the victim multiple times after the two had engaged in a physical altercation at the residence. Coley was apprehended at the scene and taken into custody without incident. He has been lodged in the Ocean County Jail since the date of his arrest on May 16, 2018.
Prosecutor Billhimer commends the diligent efforts of Chief Trial Attorney Michael Weatherstone and Assistant Prosecutor Kimberly Carr who handled the case on behalf of the State, as well as the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office High Tech Crime Unit, Little Egg Harbor Police Department Detective Bureau, Little Egg Harbor Police Department, Tuckerton Borough Police Department, and Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, for their collaborative efforts in connection with this investigation, resulting in Coley’s apprehension, guilty plea, and soon his state prison sentence.