58°
Alonzo Legrande, who is now 18, was charged as an adult on Thursday with four counts of attempted murder and weapons charges, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.
Legrande was 17 when the crimes occurred, Billhimer said, and as a juvenile offender, his name was not released. But he has voluntarily waived Family Court jurisdiction, the prosecutor said.
Brick Township police were called to Brick Memorial High School on Oct. 22, 2019, at about 1:45 p.m., on a report that a student had been shot.
The student was walking home from school with three friends when he was shot about a quarter-mile from the high school, Billhimer said.
The wounded boy ran back to school for help. Brick police and administrators locked down the high school and neighboring schools before concluding there was no imminen danger.
The shooting victim was treated at Ocean Medical Center in Brick Township.
Video surveillance footage from nearby homes captured Legrande and Luis Rivas, who also was a juvenile at the time assisting each other during the shooting, Billhimer said.
Rivas also has agreed to be prosecuted as an adult, Billhimer said.
Further investigation found that Legrande fired the weapon, he said.
He was taken into custody later the same day, and has been held in the Ocean County Juvenile Detention Center in Toms River during the past year, Billhimer said.
Rivas has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, according to Billhimer, and is due to be sentenced on Oct. 2.
Prosecutors have asked the Superior Court judge to sentence Rivas to five years in state prison, Billhimer said.
Billhimer commended Chief Juvenile Assistant Prosecutor Anthony Pierro and Assistant Prosecutor Madeline Buczynski who argued the case.
The prosecutor thanked police from Brick Township, Asbury Park, Toms River, Lakewood police, Bay Head Borough and Point Pleasant as well as the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit.
U.S. Marshals, the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit, Monmouth County Emergency Response Team, Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office and New Jersey State Police also assisted, he said.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Edison and receive free news updates.
