Asbury Park murder trial: ’I’ve seen a lot of dead bodies. I knew he was dead.’

FREEHOLD - It was around 10:30 p.m. on a frigid night in 2017 when Asbury Park Patrolman Jesse Kendle, on patrol on Springwood Avenue in that city, heard gunshots and a call of shots fired come over his police radio.

Kendle, testifying Thursday in Superior Court, said he was about 200 feet away, so he headed to the scene, in a residential area on Prospect Avenue.

When he got there, a hysterical woman approached him and said, “He’s in there, he’s in there,’’ pointing to a black sport-utility vehicle, Kendle said.

“There was a male subject in the truck, his leg was sticking out,’’ Kendle testified. “He was slumped over the center console.’’

Matthew Bogner, an assistant Monmouth County prosecutor, asked Kendle if he rendered aid to the unconscious victim.

“No, I knew he was dead,’’ the 17-year police veteran replied. “I’ve been on the job a long time. I’ve seen a lot of dead bodies. I knew he was dead.’’

The victim was 25-year-old Denzel Morgan-Hicks of Barnegat.

Kendle was the first witness in the trial of Vernon Sanders, 37, and Avery Hopes, 27, of Asbury Park, in Morgan-Hicks’ murder.

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Defense attorneys, in their opening statements, told the jury Sanders and Hicks have been falsely implicated in the murder by a parade of criminals striking sweet deals with prosecutors to testify against them.

However, Caitlin Sidley, assistant Monmouth County prosecutor, said in her opening statement that the pair laid in wait for Morgan-Hicks to appear on Prospect Avenue in Asbury Park that night so they could gun him down in a retaliatory gang slaying.

When Morgan-Hicks’ crossed Prospect Avenue and went to his Ford Expedition that night,  Sanders “emerged from the shadows,’’ armed with a handgun, Sidley said.

“He pulled that trigger, shot after shot after shot,’’ she said. “Bullets collided through Denzel’s face, brain and skull.’’

More bullets tore through the victim’s chest and arm, she said.

Hopes, also armed, rushed to the passenger side of Morgan-Hick’s vehicle and fired “shot after shot,’’ Sidley said.

“Bullets careened through plastic, through metal, through glass, with Denzel trapped inside, and when these defendants were done, they disappeared back into the shadows, leaving Denzel Morgan-Hicks to die alone,’’ she said.

The motive was “retribution, retaliation, revenge,’’ Sidley said. “This is a case about gang affiliations and rivalry.’’

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Both of the defendants are members of the Bloods street gang - Sanders a high-ranking member of the Double I set of the gang and Hopes a member of the Neighborhood 20 set, Sidley said.

Morgan-Hicks was a drug dealer and member of the rival Crips street gang, she said.

“These defendants believed Denzel caused the death of their fellow gang member in 2011,’’ Sidley said.

The defendants suspected Morgan-Hicks fatally shot Edric Gordon, 21, of Neptune in Asbury Park in May 2011, authorities have said, but he was never charged in the case.

“Be very clear, Denzel Morgan-Hicks, the victim in this case, was never charged with the murder of their friend because the state does not charge people with murder without evidence, based on rumor and assumptions,’’ Sidley said.

“You’re going to see this murder happen,’’ Sidley told the jurors, “because there were video cameras, surveillance cameras on Prospect Avenue that night.’’

Hopes’ attorney, Paul Zager, argued his client had no motive to kill Morgan. Hopes was 15 years old when Morgan-Hicks was rumored to have killed someone, Zager said.

“He didn’t know the victim, he didn’t have a dog in the fight,’’ Zager said. “You can’t have revenge on someone you don’t know.’’

Zager told the jury an eyewitness described the shooter on the passenger side of the victim’s vehicle, whom the state alleges is Hopes, as tall, with a moderate build and long dreadlocks.

“He’s not tall, he’s not moderate,’’ Zager said, referring to his heavy-set client. “You’ll hear that he never had dreads and he had short hair on the night of the shooting.’’

Another man, Michael Taylor, who took a plea bargain and is expected to testify for the state, is “relatively tall, relatively slender’’ and had a ponytail and dreadlocks, Zager said.

“You will be hard-pressed to see my client on camera in Asbury Park on the night of the shooting, anywhere,’’ Zager told the jury.

“This case is about gangs and plea deals,’’ Sanders’ attorney, John Reilly, said in his opening statement to the jury.

Asserting that authorities aren’t interested in prosecuting lower-tier gang members, Reilly said Sanders “has been the focus of the Asbury Park Police Department and Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office for years.’’

Police and gang members were all talking about Morgan-Hick’s murder when Taylor was arrested and charged with it, Reilly said.

“Michael Taylor knows what the state wants to hear,’’ Reilly said. “Michael Taylor knows who they’re most interested in.’’

That person was Sanders, he said.

“And, there becomes a veritable conga line of plea dealers because each and every one of them have something to gain,’’ Reilly said. “They know what the police want.’’

Taylor, who was facing life in prison for the murder, is expected to get a five-year prison sentence if he lives up to the terms of his plea bargain by testifying at the trial, Reilly said.

Taylor’s brother, Steven Taylor, who was alleged to be the person who orchestrated Morgan-Hicks’ murder, also took a plea deal and is expected to get an eight-year prison term in exchange for his testimony, Reilly said. That will run concurrent to another 10-year sentence he is set to receive for other crimes, so the murder “comes out to a free crime,’’ Reilly said.

“You’ve got to be very critical of these individuals,’’ he said.

But Sidley told the jurors the Taylor brothers will provide them crucial details of the murder plot.

“They are going to tell you everything that happened that night and everything that these defendants did on that night,’’ she said.

The trial is before Superior Court Judge Jill Grace O’Malley.

Kathleen Hopkins, a reporter in New Jersey since 1985, covers crime, court cases, legal issues and just about every major murder trial to hit Monmouth and Ocean counties. Contact her at khopkins@app.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Asbury Park murder trial: gang killing was revenge, prosecutors argue