Somerville man charged with 'violent and horrific' murder will remain in jail until trial

SOMERVILLE – David Shroitman, the borough man accused of the "horrific" murder of 27-year-old Maryrose Fealey on Jan. 30, will remain in jail through his trial.

Superior Court Judge Jonathan Romankow ruled Friday that Shroitman, charged with stabbing Fealey 37 times in front of her North Bridge Street home a few blocks from the courthouse, will remain jailed for what he called a "violent and horrific" act.

The judge called Shroitman an "extremely dangerous individual" who should remain incarcerated because he poses a "grave risk" to the community.

The courtroom at the Somerset County Courthouse was filled by members of Fealey's family and supporters in the community. Security was tight as more than a half dozen Somerset County Sheriff's Officers, including Sheriff Darrin Russo, were in the courtroom.

Outside the courthouse there were posters with the mug shot of Shroitman and the words, "No bail, rot in Hell." Other posters pictured Fealey with the phrase, "Justice for Maryrose Fealey."

More: Community mourns Somerville woman who was 'a light in the room'

Public Defender Emma Pallarino, representing Shroitman, told the judge that Shroitman had "significant mental health problems" and suffers from migraines.

Shroitman, 27, who has no criminal record, is a 2022 Rutgers Business School graduate, Pallarino said, and has been employed full-time for two years.

Somerset County Assistant Prosecutor Gerard Tyrell told the judge that the investigation into the murder is ongoing.

He also said there was "no evidence of a romantic relationship" between Shroitman and Feeley.

Tyrell noted that in a search of Shroitman's Brookside Gardens apartment, police found a "manifesto" that included a step-by-step plan for the murder.

Shroitman's next court appearance is scheduled for March 22 before Judge Peter Tober.

If convicted of murder, Shroitman faces the possibility of 30 years to life in prison.

Shroitman has also been charged with third-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, fourth-degree tampering with evidence and third-degree hindering his apprehension.

How Shroitman was caught

Shroitman was arrested Feb. 5 after an intensive investigation by the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office and the Somerville Police Department.

In the hours following the killing at about 10:20 p.m. Jan. 30, detectives developed Shroitman as a suspect, according to court papers.

On Feb. 1, detectives obtained dashcam video from the night of Jan. 30 that showed a male in a gray sweatshirt, black face gator and thick cushioned sneakers at about 8:59 p.m. standing at the intersection on North Bridge and Cliff streets near Fealey's home.

Fealey had returned home from work in Bridgewater at about 9 p.m., the affidavit said.

On Feb. 2, detectives tried to speak with Shroitman at a business in Bridgewater, but he refused.

But, court papers say, detectives saw a white garbage bag over the driver's seat of a tan Toyota Camry with a black gator in the front passenger seat and duct tape in the rear seat.

On Feb. 4, detectives obtained a surveillance video from an East Cliff Street home on the night of the killing. The video showed a male matching the description of the dashcam video running up and down East Cliff Street at about 9:02 p.m.

Shortly after the man runs outside the view of the video, a car matching the description of the Toyota Camry drives into view on Cliff Street.

Later that day, Somerville police responded to a call of a suspicious person in the parking lot of a borough business. When they arrived, officers found Shroitman, wearing a clear Latex glove, cleaning his vehicle. Officers could smell the odor of bleach coming from a puddle by the driver's side door of the Toyota Camry.

Officers later went to East Cliff Street and found another clear Latex glove with apparent blood on it, according to court papers.

Judge Tober granted a search warrant for Shroitman's apartment on Brookside Avenue. During the search, numerous bleach containers were found through the apartment. Clothing and sneakers matching the ones worn by the man on the surveillance video were also found, some of which had already been treated with bleach, court papers say. The door of the Camry was had also been doused with bleach.

Luminol blood detection spray also detected blood in the entryway and bathroom of the apartment.

Detectives also found a manifesto laying out a step-by-step plan for the killing, according to court papers.

'There is always hope'

Fealey's murder shocked the quiet county seat where violent crime is rare.

Fealey and Shroitman had both grown up in Branchburg and graduated from Somerville High School in 2014.

Fealey was well-known in the community for her volunteer efforts in helping people with substance abuse issues.

"Most of the people in this organization are accustomed to dealing with death. This was a brutality that I don't think anybody was ready for," said Jack Rannells, who with his wife Ellen runs the nonprofit organization Not An Easy Fix (NAEF), of which Fealey was a committee member. "Maryrose Fealey was thought of by many as a 'light' in the room or in their day whenever they spoke of her. She was one to 'show up,' be supportive, bring positive energy, plus willingness and kindness to the task at hand."

Friends and colleagues recalled that Fealey was many things – entrepreneur, visual artist, champion of the underdog, philanthropist, writer, logistician; a woman who would move mountains to help others.

Fealey was tireless in her efforts to empower youth and those battling addiction, including her older brother Ian Fealey. Founder of the 4 The Younger Me (4TYM), Fealey also was involved with the nonprofits DJ Choices and Empower Somerset.

She created 4TYM to change the stigma surrounding addiction and empower young people. She firmly believed that "substance abuse does not define the person" and that "a toxic environment does not define the child’s future."

Fealey gained TikTok fame as she shared her mission, as she called it, and her story. In 2021 her efforts to get her brother off drugs and into recovery are shown in a Brut documentary that followed the two for three weeks. A follow-up documentary in 2022 found the two dealing with relapse, recovery and advocating for people to live clean, sober lives. According to that documentary, Ian Fealey had been clean since Dec. 14, 2021.

According to the Jack and Ellen Rannells, both of whom run Not An Easy Fix, which was founded by their son Jackson Rannells before his death of a fentanyl overdose in 2021, Fealey was proud to have grown up and been a part of the borough's school system in her formative years.

In a 2022 Not An Easy Fix program that Fealey, her brother and their mother participated in together, Fealey concluded her speech by saying "And it's definitely not an easy fix, but there is always hope."

That same year Fealey was featured in an episode of the podcast "Grieving Out Loud," hosted by Angela Kennecke, founder of Emily's Hope, a nonprofit organization formed in the wake of Kennecke's daughter's death of a fentanyl overdose.

Last March she along with her brother and other members of Not An Easy Fix and DJ Choices presented an anti-drug program at their alma mater Somerville High School. Fealey graduated in 2014.

"Because a lesson learned is a lesson shared and your mindset is everything," Fealey said in her speech to the students. "While you can't immediately change certain situations you find yourself in, having a positive mindset changes your ability to deal with that situation. Your mind, your development, your life is so important. And the fastest way to heal yourself is by changing that internal dialogue. Make your mind a sanctuary and I know it's not an easy fix, but there is always hope and we have a lot of hope in your generation."

A 2018 graduate of Rutgers Business School, Fealey was a Logistics Management Specialist who focused on logistics, decentralization, material and supply chain management. A former federal employee for the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC), Fealey had taken a break from her profession to focus on her mission work as she called it.

At the time of her death, Fealey was working as a real estate agent for Coldwell Banker Realty and looking to get back into her work as a logistics management specialist, along with building up her work with the nonprofit organizations.

Contributing: Staff writer Cheryl Makin

Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com

Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Maryrose Fealey murder suspect David Shroitman will remain in jail