Three Pleasantville men have pleaded guilty to their part in a deadly shootout on the Atlantic City Expressway in 2016.
Wilbert Demosthenes, Anthony Hicks and Devan Leggette pleaded guilty Tuesday to first-degree attempted murder in the Aug. 29, 2016, shootout at the entrance of the Atlantic City Expressway milepost 11.3 eastbound, Atlantic County Prosecutor Damon Tyner said.
Hicks’ passenger, Rosemond Octavius, died in the gunfire.
The three will be sentenced Aug. 8, although the time they face was not announced.
They were indicted on several charges in 2017, including three counts pertaining to gang criminality.
At the time, Tyner alleged the three were members of the Southside Mob. They are centered in Pleasantville’s southside, and affiliated with the Haitian mob, a gang expert told BreakingAC.
“This further underscores the brazen violence that we are witnessing in recent incidents,” Tyner said Tuesday. “The Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office will continue to pursue and prosecute these offenders to the fullest extent of the law. I would like to personally thank all of our law enforcement partners for their efforts in bringing these individuals to justice.”
The gun battle was sparked by an altercation inside a bathroom of the Mays Landing courthouse on Aug. 29, 2016, according to the charges.
Legette tried to fight Yahshaun Stukes-Williams, who was in court for a hearing that day.
Stukes-Williams and M.T., a minor who was with him, then saw a group of men standing outside his car in the courthouse parking lot, so Stukes-Williams’ father drove to the courthouse with Lenardo Caro to pick the two up.
They left the courthouse in a white Ford Expedition, but then noticed as they approached the toll entrance to the Atlantic City Expressway east that they were being followed by a gold Nissan Maxima and a black Dodge Ram pickup.
As they got on the expressway, shots were fired from the Maxima at the Expedition, whose occupants returned fire, according to the prosecutor. Then the pickup pulled alongside the Expedition, and another gun battle erupted.
After the shootout, the Expedition got off at Exit 9, and eventually came to a stop in the parking lot of the Wawa at the Airport Circle in Egg Harbor Township.
The Nissan got off at Exit 7N and stopped on the Garden State Parkway after losing its front left wheel. That is where Hicks was found.
The Dodge Ram got off at Exit 5 in Pleasantville and was eventually located on the side of a house on the 200 block of East Oakland Avenue.
“This is a significant prosecution for the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office that will ensure the safety of all residents and visitors to Atlantic County and alike,” Tyner said. “The reality that these reckless and irresponsible individuals through their gunplay would jeopardize their lives and the lives of anyone utilizing the Atlantic City Expressway is absolutely outrageous. Not only did they kill a passenger in their vehicle, but they put anyone’s life in jeopardy that happened to be traveling on that day.”
