Mark Huff, 58, pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter for the homicide of 56-year-old Vernell K. Vance, according to Acting Atlantic County Prosecutor Cary Shill.
The State will recommend Huff be sentenced to 25 years in New Jersey State Prison when he is sentenced on Feb. 10, Shill said.
Huff was arrested in Pleasantville on April 16, 2018. He was taken into custody by detectives from the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit, Atlantic City Police detectives with the assistance of Pleasantville Police. New Jersey Transit Police were instrumental in identifying Huff as the suspect in the homicide, Shill said.
At 11:28 p.m., on April 14, 2018, Atlantic City police received a 9-1-1 call reporting a body had been discovered behind 21 S. Tennessee Ave. Police arrived and located Vance, who was determined to be dead and had suffered significant blunt force head trauma, Shill said.
An autopsy performed by Southern Regional Medical Examiner Dr. Ian Hood determined the cause of death to be blunt force head trauma and the manner of death as homicide.
Huff was being held at the Atlantic County Justice Facility.
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