An Absecon man was sentenced to 60 years in prison Tuesday in a violent Buena Borough home invasion.
Hayes and a never-caught accomplice had a tracker on the man's car for weeks before forcing him back inside the house at gunpoint that morning, and terrorizing the family.
"Why?" the younger victim asked Hayes. "That's what I would like to know. Why?"
The victim, whose name is not being released publicly, said he never was involved in anything criminal, and has been working for the state since he was 20.
"What if my kids were in the car," he said, talking of regularly going to football practice. "Kids! Kids! You knew my every move. For what?"
But Hayes had no answers for the family, insisting the wrong man was convicted.
"I don't know you all," he said, addressing the family. "I've never been in your all's house. I feel sorry that this ever happened to you all, but the wrong person is in here."
He said if he had committed the crime, he would have taken the 10-year plea deal he was offered.
Hayes said, like the victim, he worked for everything he had.
But Hayes' criminal history painted a much different picture.
He has 11 prior indictments with several prison terms totaling sentences of more than 58 years, Judge William Miller said during sentencing. Another case is still pending.
This is his second first-degree robbery conviction.
Hayes' juvenile history also included 11 adjudications, although Hayes denied some of the charges listed, including aggravated criminal sexual assault and sexual assault.
The victim's parents were also in court, with his mother speaking. She talked of how her son had just said, "I love you," as he headed off to work and she readied her bath.
She heard the yelling and, eventually, heard a gunshot.
It was fired by the unknown man at the orders of Hayes after the man tried to run, according to the state's case.
When she saw her son, he was bleeding. He didn't know he had been struck, she said.
"I don't hate you," the 63-year-old woman told Hayes. "But I'll never forget what happened."
Hayes must serve 51 years of his sentence before he is eligible for parole under the No Early Release Act. He has credit for more than 2½ years.
He is currently being held in the Monmouth County Correctional Institute. Hayes was on parole from a crime out of Monmouth County when he was arrested in the home invasion.
