Man gets life term, no parole, for killing Camden resident

CAMDEN – A Philadelphia man has received a life term with no possibility of parole for the murder of an elderly city resident.

A jury in August convicted Maurice Peaker Jr., 29, of the murder of 67-year-old Thomas Smith.

The victim was shot as he bicycled on Kaighn Avenue near Rose Street around 3:30 a.m. on Aug. 15, 2021. He died at a city hospital about 40 minutes later.

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Surveillance video showed Smith was shot by the driver of a passing vehicle, a 2000 Nissan Maxima with a damaged tail light, according to the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office.

An automatic license plate reader provided additional information and the Nissan was found in the parking lot of an apartment building on the 200 block of Oakland Avenue in Audubon.

Peaker, who was also convicted of weapons offenses, was living with a girlfriend at the Audubon complex, the prosecutor’s office said.

Additional surveillance video showed Peaker driving from the parking lot shortly before the shooting, then returning to Audubon.

A search of the vehicle found a shell casing that was the same caliber and manufacturer as five casings recovered at the murder scene.

“Ballistic testing later confirmed all six shell casings were discharged in the same firearm,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

Peaker was apprehended in Yeadon, a Philadelphia suburb, 11 days after Smith’s murder.

Jim Walsh is a senior reporter for the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daly Journal. Email: Jwalsh@cpsj.com.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Thomas Smith was shot while bicycling on a Camden street