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Anthony Barksdale, also known as Shakar Barksdale and previously from Seaside Heights, was found guilty after a jury trial in the murder of Steven E. Stallworth of Brick.
“This was a brutal and senseless murder," Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said
Stallworth was shot in the cheek outside the Hampton Gardens apartment building in Toms River on March 5, 2018, with a 9mm, hollow-point bullet from a Ruger automatic handgun, prosecutors have said.
Authorities said Barksdale shot Stallworth at the request of a second suspect, Sevon Hill, 25, of Toms River who was described by prosecutors as a lower-level drug dealer who owed Stallworth $18,000.
Barksdale and Hill came up with a plan to erase the drug debt by killing Stallworth, prosecutors said. Hill thought that Stallworth's would allow him to buy cheaper drugs from other dealers, they said.
Barksdale spit on the ground at the crime scene, leaving behind what would be crucial evidence once analysts matched DNA in the saliva to his own, Supervising Assistant Prosecutor Michael Abatemarco said.during the trial, according to the Asbury Park Press.
Barksdale was found guilty of murder on June 29 after a jury trial that began in early March, Billhimer said. The trial was temporarily suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.
The jury also found Barksdale guilty on multiple weapons charges.
Billhimer thanked Abatemarco and Senior Assistant Prosecutor Robert Cassidy for their skill and dedication in trying the case.
“It is my sincere hope that (this life sentence) provides some measure of peace and closure to Mr. Stallworth’s family, who have been forced to endure needless and unspeakable suffering since that horrible day in March 2018," Billhimer said.
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