A grand jury indicted 24-year-old Eric Manzanares on Wednesday, Aug. 21, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said in a news release. He was charged with murder, attempted murder, aggravated assault, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and unlawful possession of a weapon.
Manzanares was accused of shooting and killing 25-year-old Nymere Tinsley of Brick Township on Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022. Toms River police responded to a shooting at Top Tier Hookah Lounge on Hooper Avenue at around 1:20 a.m.
Officers found three victims with gunshot wounds. Tinsley had been shot in his lower stomach and was pronounced dead at the scene.
A 30-year-old Neptune Township man and a 26-year-old Asbury Park man were brought to Jersey Shore University Medical Center. They were treated and released from the Neptune hospital.
Investigators said Manzanares was responsible for shooting all three men. An arrest warrant was issued for Manzanares and his name was put into the National Crime Information Center database.
Manzanares was arrested in Prince William County, Virginia, on Friday, Apr. 7, 2023. He was held at the county's jail in Manassas for about nine months before his extradition to New Jersey.
Manzanares has remained in the Ocean County Jail since Wednesday, Jan. 24 and a judge ordered him on Thursday, Feb. 22 to stay detained there through his trial.
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