An Atlantic City man serving 11 years in federal prison for leading a deadly drug ring now faces murder charges.
Khalif Toombs, now 32, was once a promising Atlantic City basketball star.
Now he’s accused of hiring a man to kill Lamir King, who died New Year’s Day 2019, just days shy of his 22nd birthday.
Toombs was charged Thursday on a warrant, which is still listed as active, so it’s not clear whether he has been served the charges at his current location in the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Conn., where he has been serving a 135-month sentence in the case that the ring distributed more than a kilogram of heroin.
The brands stamped on those bags sold on Atlantic City’s streets were tied to 48 deaths and 84 non-fatal overdoses since Jan. 1, 2017.
That dates to exactly two years before King was found shot inside his Honda Civic, after it rolled through an intersection at Lincoln and Ohio avenues at about 6:30 on the first night of 2019.
The shooter is seen walking away with an apparent limp, which matches video of Sewell walking, according to court documents.
Sewell, who is still awaiting trial in the Atlantic County Justice Facility, has admitted to being left-handed and “pigeon toed.” He reportedly insisted he was at the rear of his residence in the 1500 block of North Westminster Place at the time of the shooting.
It was Toombs who hired Sewell, according to the new charges, that claim he made the hit with the “payment or promise of payment of items of pecuniary value.” He’s also charged with conspiracy and two second-degree weapons charges.