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Kalief Lyons, 35, of Galloway Township, was arrested on Friday, May 10, the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office said in a news release on Thursday, May 16. He was facing charges in the shooting death of 38-year-old Baseem Taliaferro of Galloway.
Pleasantville police responded to a ShotSpotter alert of several shots fired at 9 West Pleasant Avenue at around 11:02 p.m. on Thursday, May 9. Officers found Taliaferro inside a first-floor apartment with a gunshot wound to his chest and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
A witness told police they saw a fight between Lyons and several other people near the apartment about 20 minutes before the shooting. Lyons left the area but surveillance video showed him walking to the back of the apartment while wearing a ski mask.
Investigators said Lyons was seen walking away from the shooting scene about two minutes later without wearing the mask. Galloway police arrested him about two-and-a-half hours after the shooting.
Lyons was found with a 9mm gun, a "large quantity" of drugs, and wearing the same clothes he was seen in on the surveillance video. Crime scene evidence confirmed the gun Lyons had matched the one used to kill Taliaferro.
Prosecutors said Lyons was awaiting sentencing in a separate incident after pleading guilty to second-degree certain persons not to possess firearms. A sentence of eight years in state prison was recommended when the guilty plea was entered on Tuesday, Mar. 5.
Galloway police responded to a report of a man pulling a gun on another man on Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022. Lyons was later identified as the suspect.
Police found the gun with an illegal high-capacity magazine in a vehicle Lyons was previously inside later that day. The gun had 13 hollow-point bullets and one round in the chamber.
Lyons was found with 75 wax folds of suspected heroin and five small suspected crack cocaine rocks. After pleading guilty, he was released to home detention without a monitoring bracelet to await sentencing.
Lyons was held at the Atlantic County Justice Facility before a detention hearing in Taliaferro's killing. He was scheduled for sentencing in his previous guilty plea on Tuesday, May 28.
Anyone with information about Taliaferro's killing should call the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office at 609-909-7666. You can also send an anonymous tip online at ACPO.tips.
You can also call the Crime Stoppers of Atlantic County at 609-652-1234 or 1-800-658-8477 (TIPS).
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