TOMS RIVER – Two men have been indicted by an Ocean County grand jury in connection with a May stabbing that left a Brick Township man dead and another injured, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer announced.
Steven McNeill, 32, of Jackson Township, was indicted July 30 on charges including murder, attempted murder, multiple weapons offenses, and eluding. Roderick Seward, 30, of Toms River, was indicted on weapons and drug offenses, as well as being a certain person not to possess a weapon, authorities said.
The charges stem from a May 9 incident at a residence on Adams Avenue in Toms River. Officers responding to a 911 call at about 7:20 a.m. found Raniek Mendez, 34, of Brick Township, with a stab wound to his chest. Mendez was transported to Community Medical Center in Toms River, where he died of his injuries.
Investigators determined Seward also was stabbed during the altercation and was later treated at Ocean University Medical Center in Brick for non-life-threatening injuries. Witnesses reported hearing a gunshot during the incident, and a single shell casing was recovered at the scene.
Authorities said McNeill fled the area but was located a short time later in Jackson Township. He was taken into custody after a brief attempt to elude police and has remained in the Ocean County Jail pending trial.
A search of the Adams Avenue residence led detectives to a backpack belonging to Seward that contained cocaine, prosecutors said. Further investigation revealed that Seward had fired a gun during the altercation, resulting in additional weapons charges in July. He was released under New Jersey’s bail reform guidelines.
Billhimer praised Senior Assistant Prosecutor Alyssa Mandara, who presented the case to the grand jury, and credited the cooperative efforts of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit, Toms River Township Police Department, and the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit.
