MONMOUTH COUNTY – A Monmouth County grand jury has handed up a 10-count indictment against three men accused in the fatal shooting of an 18-year-old Long Branch resident earlier this year, according to Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago.
The defendants — Aiden Terlecki, 19, of Middletown; Joshua Moore, 21, of Neptune Township; and Jahsaad M. Banks, 19, of Asbury Park — each face charges including first-degree murder and first-degree conspiracy to commit murder. The indictment also includes two counts each of second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, along with three counts of third-degree hindering.
Moore was additionally charged with second-degree certain persons not to possess a weapon.
Authorities said the charges stem from a shooting reported at about 12:34 p.m. on March 16 in the area of the John R. Lewis Commons in Long Branch. Responding officers found an 18-year-old man suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. The victim, later identified as Tristan Reeves, was transported to a nearby hospital, where he later died.
An investigation conducted by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Bureau and the Long Branch Police Department led to the identification of Terlecki, Moore and Banks as the alleged participants in the crime.
Terlecki was taken into custody on the evening of October 9 by the Port Authority Police Department and remains held at the Monmouth County Correctional Institution. Moore was arrested without incident in Long Branch on October 2 and is also being held at the county jail. Banks was already incarcerated at the facility on an unrelated matter.
Banks and Moore were ordered detained following a hearing on October 15 before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Henry P. Butehorn.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Prosecutors Matthew Bogner, director of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Bureau, and Christopher Dize of the office’s Trial Division. Banks is represented by attorney Lauren Musarra of Freehold, Moore by Anthony Cherry of Eatontown, and Terlecki by Mitchell Ansell of Ocean Township.
As with all criminal cases, the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
