Gavel (Credit: Brian Turner/Flickr)
An Asbury Park man was sentenced Friday for the murder and robbery of a Brick Township man in July 2013, the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office announced.
Superior Court Judge Ronald Lee Reisner sentenced Jahmir Bouie, 21, to a term of 55 years in New Jersey State Prison. He will have to serve 85 percent of the sentence before becoming eligible for parole. Bouie’s co-defendant, Spencer Young, was sentenced on Sept. 9 to a prison term of 50 years.
Bouie, of Atlantic Avenue in Asbury Park, was found guilty in September of one count each of second degree robbery, first degree felony murder, and first degree murder for the murder of 36-year-old Thomas Sudano, Jr.
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The charges stem from an incident that occurred on July 27, 2013. That morning, around 12:26 a.m., Asbury Park police were dispatched to the area of 1100 Atlantic Avenue for a report of an unconscious male lying in the street. Upon arrival, police found the man unconscious, in cardiac arrest and without any neurological responses. The victim was identified as Sudano, 36, of Brick Township.
During the trial, it was learned that Sudano took a taxi from Brick to Asbury Park to meet with Bouie shortly before midnight in order to purchase drugs. Bouie and co-defendant Young met with Sudano at the McDonald’s on Route 35 in Neptune Township before Bouie and Young lured Sudano into a housing complex in Asbury Park with the intentions of robbing him.
At trial, a witness testified he observed both Bouie and Young with the victim around midnight. The witness testified that without provocation or warning, Bouie and Young assaulted Sudano, punching, stomping and kicking him. Sudano attempted to flee from his attackers but fell to the ground unconscious. As Sudano lay motionless, Bouie and Young continued their assault, kicking and punching Sudano about his head and body. They stole Sudano’s cellular phone and money before fleeing the area and leaving Sudano lying unconscious in the street.
Young was found in possession of Sudano’s cellphone in Asbury Park three days after the assault. Cellular telephone records revealed that the phone was in constant use by Young from 12:26 a.m. on July 27, 2013 until he was taken into custody by police on July 30, 2013.
The investigation revealed that Bouie was operating his girlfriend’s vehicle to transport the victim to the scene of the crime and using her cellular telephone to make arrangements with the victim prior to his murder. Bouie was taken into custody on July 31, 2013.
Sudano died on July 29, 2013, at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune Township. The Medical Examiner’s Office determined his death was caused by blunt force trauma to the head and neck and the manner of death was ruled a homicide.
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