Asbury Park 17-year-old will be tried as an adult in July 2022 murder in the city
FREEHOLD – A 17-year-old Asbury Park boy will be tried as an adult in the murder of 19-year-old Daniel Vernet, who was gunned down in the city in July 2022.
The teenager, Joseph Argilagos, was also indicted this week with his co-defendant Lydell Brown, 19, on charges of murder and two related weapons offenses, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago said in a statement.
“We do not take any decision to seek to waive a juvenile defendant up to adult court lightly – many factors are carefully weighed, including the severity of the crime, the precise age of the defendant, and the degree of the defendant’s culpability,” Prosecutor Santiago said. “In this case, considering that a life was taken in such intentional and violent fashion, we strongly believe that this waiver serves the interests of justice.”
The murder of Vernet of Asbury Park took place shortly after 5:45 p.m. on July 8, 2022, on the 100 block of Prospect Avenue near its intersection with Atlantic Avenue, the prosecutor’s office said.
When officers reached Vernet at the scene, they found him with several gunshot wounds. He was rushed to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, where he was pronounced dead an hour after the shooting.
Argilagos was caught days after the shooting. Brown was on the lam until May when detectives from the prosecutor's office and the Asbury Park Police Department, and the U.S. Marshals Service New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested him without a struggle in Toms River.
Brown is being held at Monmouth County Jail pending the outcome of the case. Argilagos has a detention hearing scheduled for Wednesday in Superior Court, Monmouth County. Where he is presently being held was unclear.
Argilagos' attorney was not immediately able to be reached.
Brown's Freehold Township-based attorney, Emeka Nkwuo, said his client has been charged as an accomplice.
"We dispute that and he maintains his innocence," Nkwuo said. "At the time of the allegations, Lydell was 18-years-old. He was a high school athlete, he graduated from high school and he was on his way to play football in college. He's never been in trouble for anything in his life."
Brown was due to play for Tiffin University in Tiffin, Ohio, Nkwuo said. Tiffin is an NCAA Division II school.
Santiago is urging anyone with information about the murder to call Detective Sgt. Christopher Guy of the prosecutor's office at 800-533-7443 or Detective Anthony Troublefield of the Asbury Park Police Department at 732-774-1300.
Ken Serrano covers crime, breaking news and investigations. Reach him at kserrano@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Asbury Park NJ slay defendant, 17, to be tried as an adult
