STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. ALLEN D. REED (16-08-2194, CAMDEN COUNTY AND STATEWIDE)

New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division·Decided February 8, 2021·No. A-4067-17·Unpublished

Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court ." Although it is posted on the internet, this opinion is binding only on the parties in the case and its use in other cases is limited. R. 1:36-3.

SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY APPELLATE DIVISION

DOCKET NO. A-4067-17

STATE OF NEW JERSEY, Plaintiff-Respondent,

v.

ALLEN D. REED, a/k/a JULIUS REED, JUNIE REED, ALAN REED, and ANDRE SNYDER,

Defendant-Appellant.

Argued January 5, 2021 – Decided February 8, 2021 Before Judges Yannotti and Natali.

On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Camden County, Indictment No. 16-08-2194.

Susan L. Romeo, Assistant Deputy Public Defender, argued the cause for appellant (Joseph E. Krakora, Public Defender, attorney; Susan L. Romeo, of counsel and on the brief).

Jason Magid, Special Deputy Attorney General/Acting Assistant Prosecutor, argued the cause for respondent

(Jill S. Mayer, Acting Camden County Prosecutor, attorney; Jason Magid, of counsel and on the brief).

PER CURIAM Defendant was tried before a jury and found guilty of first-degree murder and other offenses. Defendant appeals from the judgment of conviction (JOC) dated March 20, 2018. We affirm.

I.

Defendant was charged under Camden County Indictment No. 16-08-

2194, with first-degree murder of Edwin Davis, N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3(a)(1) (count one); first-degree robbery, N.J.S.A. 2C:15-1(a)(1)-(2) (count two); first-degree felony murder, N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3(a)(3) (count three); second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5(b)(1) (count four); possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, N.J.S.A. 2C:39-4(a)(1) (count five); fourth- degree unlawful possession of hollow-nose or dum-dum bullets, N.J.S.A. 2C:39- 3(f)(1) (count six); and second-degree certain persons not to have weapons, N.J.S.A. 2C:39-7(b)(1) (count seven).

At defendant's trial, evidence was presented showing that in May 2016, Davis was residing with his three children, his fiancé Celeste Russell, and Russell's three children at a home on Morgan Boulevard in Camden. Davis was employed by the Bellmawr highway department. On May 3, 3016, Davis awoke A-4067-17

at around 5:30 a.m. to go to work. Russell heard him go downstairs a few minutes after 6:00 a.m. At around 7:00 a.m., a neighbor found Davis's body in the backyard of Davis's home. He had been shot one time in the chest, suffered massive blood loss, and died.

Russell testified that Davis was a drug dealer who sold pills to persons who would come to their house. She stated that the night before the shooting, Davis received calls from several individuals he was supposed to meet the next day. She also said, that before he left for work on the morning of May 3, 2016, he took approximately $1,100 from their dresser and put it in his front pocket.

After the neighbor found Davis's body, Detective Mark Lee of the Camden County Police Department reviewed surveillance footage he obtained from the Crestbury Apartment complex, which is located across the street from the row houses where Davis had his home. Lee reviewed the footage at the office of a nearby apartment complex with the same ownership as Crestbury Apartments.

The surveillance footage showed that at 4:45 a.m. on May 3, 2016, a minivan was on Olive Street, which is across from the row houses on Morgan Boulevard, where Davis's home was located. An individual wearing dark clothes is seen exiting the minivan and the vehicle then drove away turning left

A-4067-17

onto Morgan Boulevard. The individual walked in the same direction and crossed the street towards the row houses on Morgan Boulevard.

While he was at the complex reviewing the footage, Lee looked out a window and noticed the same minivan drive by. Lee and a partner located the vehicle and, around 11:00 a.m., they conducted a motor vehicle stop. The vehicle was a beige Chrysler minivan, which was being driven by its registered owner, Syia Strong. Defendant was a passenger in the front-seat of the van.

Strong lived in an apartment nearby with Rashawn Braxton and her four children. She had been dating defendant for about four months, and approximately two weeks before the shooting, defendant had moved into the master bedroom of her apartment. The officers detained Strong and defendant and transported them to the Camden County Prosecutor's Office.

Detective Sutley and another detective questioned Strong and defendant separately. They informed Strong of her Miranda rights,1 following which she waived her rights and provided a statement. Initially, Strong did not tell the detectives anything regarding the events of earlier that morning. However, after Detective Sutley accused her of being an accomplice to Davis's murder, she told them defendant was responsible for Davis's death.

1 Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966).

A-4067-17

Defendant was tried on the first six counts of the indictment. At the trial, Strong testified that at around 3:00 a.m. or 4:00 a.m. on the morning of May 3, 2016, she and defendant were "having some drinks" with a friend when defendant asked her to drive him to a friend's apartment in the Crestbury Apartment complex, which was less than a ten-minute drive from Strong's apartment. According to Strong, defendant was wearing dark clothing, including black pants and a black shirt. Strong said it was raining at the time.

Strong dropped defendant off in the middle of Olive Street, next to the Crestbury complex, then returned home to go to sleep. Strong said that around 6:10 a.m., she was awakened by a phone call from defendant who asked her to pick him up where she had dropped him off. Strong drove to Olive Street but defendant was not there.

Strong then pulled to the side of the road on Maple Walk, just off Olive Street, where her daughter had an apartment. She called defendant to let him know she had arrived. Defendant eventually appeared and entered the van. Strong said defendant was wearing the same dark clothing he had been wearing when she dropped him off, and that he was wet from the rain.

When they got out of the van at Strong's apartment, defendant told Strong he "had to shoot somebody." She asked him "who and why," and defendant told

A-4067-17

her he shot Davis. He said that when he told Davis to get on the ground, Davis had rushed at him. Strong started to cry and went upstairs to her apartment to tell Braxton. Defendant went into the master bedroom and got into bed.

Later, Strong was getting ready to leave to bring the children to school, drop Braxton off at work, and run certain errands. Strong went to the master bedroom and asked defendant if he was coming with her, and he said he would accompany her. She noted that defendant had changed his clothes and hung his wet clothes on the closet door. She said they all left the apartment together.

At some point, Strong's daughter-in-law called Strong to let her know that someone in her apartment complex, Everett Gardens, was selling a bedroom set . Strong decided to purchase the furniture. She stated that she and defendant went to pick up the furniture but were not able to get it all in the minivan in one trip. On the second trip, the police stopped Strong and defendant and took them into custody.

Following their interview with Strong, Sutley and another detective interviewed defendant. During the interview, defendant stated that he wanted to speak with an attorney. The officers terminated the interview and transferred defendant to the Camden County Police Administration Building ( CCPAB). Thereafter, the police executed a search warrant at Strong's and defendant's

A-4067-17

apartment. They seized a dark, "moist knit hat[,] . . . a set of moist gloves," a pair of pants, a sweatshirt, and a silver and black Smith & Wesson revolver.

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STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. ALLEN D. REED (16-08-2194, CAMDEN COUNTY AND STATEWIDE), (N.J. Ct. App. 2021).

STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. ALLEN D. REED (16-08-2194, CAMDEN COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. ALLEN D. REED (16-08-2194, CAMDEN COUNTY AND STATEWIDE)) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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