Crime & Safety

Two Monmouth County Men Arraigned For Assault, Murder Of Brick Man

Two Monmouth County men were arraigned Monday following an indictment charging them with the murder and robbery of a Brick man in July 2013, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni announced.

Spencer Young, 20, and Jahmir Bouie, 18, both of Asbury Park, were arraigned Monday before state Superior Court Judge Francis J. Vernoia after they were indicted on March 12, 2014 on charges of first degree murder, felony murder and second degree Robbery in connection with the brutal assault that took the life of Thomas Sudano, Jr., 36, of Brick, according to the prosecutor's office.

Police officers from the Asbury Park Police Department were dispatched to the area of 1100 Atlantic Avenue at about 12:30 a.m., on July 27, 2013, on a report of an unconscious man lying in the street. Police arrived to find the man suffered from extensive head trauma with a bleak prognosis.

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A joint investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and Asbury Park Police Department learned Sudano took a taxi from Brick to Asbury Park to meet with Bouie shortly before midnight.  Bouie, Young and Sudano met at the McDonald’s fast food restaurant on Route 35 before Bouie and Young lured Sudano into a housing complex in Asbury Park with the intentions of robbing him, according to the prosecutor's office.

The investigation revealed a witness who observed the incident and identified both Young and Bouie, who without provocation or warning, assaulted Sudano, punching and kicking him. During the brutal assault,  Sudano attempted to flee from his attackers but fell to the ground and was knocked unconscious. 

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As Sudano lay motionless, Young and Bouie continued their assault, kicking and punching Sudano about his head and body and taking his cellular phone, money and removed his shoes shortly before fleeing the area and leaving their victim lying unconscious in the street.

Sudano died two days later, on July 29, 2013, as Jersey Shore University Medical Center.

Young and Bouie have been held in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution, Freehold Township, on $1 million bail each.

If convicted of murder or felony murder, Young and Bouie face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment with a 30 year minimum period of parole ineligibility on each charge.  Young and Bouie face up to a 10 year maximum sentence on the Robbery charge.  In addition, all three charges are subject to New Jersey’s No Early Release Act (NERA) requiring violent offenders to serve 85 percent of their sentence before becoming eligible for parole.


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