TOMS RIVER, NJ — A New Jersey man has been sentenced to 60 years in state prison for the execution-style murders of a father and his friend during a deadly confrontation in 2021, prosecutors announced.
Tyshaun Drummond, 42, was convicted in October of two counts of murder for fatally shooting Nicholas Hardy, 36, and Sergio Chavez-Perez, 32, according to Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer. Drummond was also found guilty of weapons offenses and burglary following a nearly monthlong jury trial.
The murders occurred on December 19, 2021, at an apartment complex in Toms River. Police responding to reports of gunfire located Drummond outside the building. When he refused officers’ commands to get on the ground, he was subdued with a stun gun. His arrest was recorded on police body camera footage later presented in court.
During the arrest, Drummond reportedly told officers, “I shot everybody in the face,” according to the Asbury Park Press.
Inside the apartment, officers discovered the bodies of Hardy and Chavez-Perez, both shot in the head. He shot the man in front of her three children.
Testimony during the trial revealed that Drummond had been having an affair with Chavez-Perez’s wife, Araceli Perez. On the night of the murders, Perez testified that her husband had been drinking and ominously said, “Tonight, somebody’s going to die.” She also stated that her 12-year-old daughter saw Chavez-Perez grab a knife, prompting Perez to text Drummond a warning that her husband had left the house armed.
Prosecutors presented text messages between Perez and Drummond, including one where she called him her “future husband.” In another message from October 2021, Drummond advised Perez to delete their conversations to prevent her husband from discovering the affair.
