Uncle and nephew found guilty in 2017 murder outside victim's home in Neptune

FREEHOLD - A Monmouth County jury on Monday found an uncle and nephew from Asbury Park guilty of murder, robbery and other charges in the shooting death of a 43-year-old Neptune man during a drug deal in front of his home in 2017.

After deliberating Thursday and Friday, the jury reached a verdict at 1:42 a.m., finding Marcus Morrisey and his nephew, Danron Morrisey, guilty of the Nov. 10, 2017, murder of Randolph Goodman.

The jury also found the pair guilty of robbery, felony murder, unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose in what prosecutors argued was a heist of 30 grams of crack cocaine that Goodman was planning to sell to Marcus Morrisey outside his apartment on Old Corlies Avenue in Neptune.

In addition, the panel found Marcus Morrisey guilty of unlawful possession of a stun gun and possession of a stun gun for an unlawful purpose.

Marcus Morrisey, 52, and Danron Morrisey, 30, showed no emotion when the jury foreman read the verdict.

Tears welled in the eyes of Goodman’s mother, who sat silently next to the victim’s father in the second row of the courtroom. Both declined to comment on the verdict.

At the request of prosecutors, Superior Court Marc C. Lemieux revoked the pretrial release of both defendants and remanded them to the Monmouth County Jail to await sentencing on July 13.

Because both face the possibility of life in prison, LeMieux said there were no conditions that he could place on them short of incarceration that would ensure their appearance at sentencing and also guarantee the safety of the public.

Danron Morrisey’s attorney, John Perrone, vowed to appeal the verdict.

The verdict followed a 2 1/2-week trial at which Ellyn Rajfer and Michael Luciano, assistant Monmouth County prosecutors, alleged Marcus Morrisey went to Goodman’s home to purchase crack cocaine from him while his nephew emerged from the shadows and shot him when he came outside to conduct the drug deal. They argued that Marcus Morrisey also had a stun gun with which he tried to immobilize Goodman.

Goodman’s girlfriend, Shalyce Davis, was the only eyewitness to the shooting, although it was captured on a surveillance video that was played for the jury during the trial and several times during the panel’s deliberations.

Davis testified that Goodman went downstairs to sell the cocaine to Marcus Morrisey when she heard a scuffle and went outside to see what was happening. She said she saw Marcus Morrisey try to pull Goodman off his porch, so she jumped into the fray to try to defend him. There was a second man there, but Davis said she didn’t recognize him because he had the hood of his sweatshirt tied tightly around his face.

“We were all like scuffling, and there was a taser, too,’’ Davis testified on Jan. 27. “I don’t know who had it. I could hear it. I could hear it buzzing, and then there was a gunshot.’’

Davis told the jury that Goodman ran upstairs to their apartment and collapsed.

Goodman was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead shortly afterward as a result of a gunshot would to the abdomen.

During the trial, prosecutors also viewed video from surveillance cameras at the QuickChek convenience store across the street showing the two Morriseys meeting there shortly before the killing.

Marcus Morrisey’s attorney, Joshua Hood, had argued at the trial that the pair would not have met at a store where they knew there would be surveillance cameras everywhere if they were planning to rob and kill someone across the street.

Prosecutors  said Marcus Morrisey’s ex-wife, who lived nearby, drove him and another woman away from the scene to Eatontown after the killing

The ex-wife, Denise Morrisey, testified that when she returned home from giving him a ride, Marcus Morrisey asked her to come back and bring his backpack and a bottle of Hennessy cognac that he left at her house, so she and her boyfriend drove back with the items

Defense attorneys argued that Denise Morrisey’s boyfriend fit the description of the second man pictured on the video of the killing, but his home was never searched for a mask and gun.

A handgun that was matched to shell casings found at the murder scene was discovered later on an Asbury Park street in January 2018 alongside a pair of sneakers. Authorities never determined to whom the sneakers belonged.

Both defendants had been jailed since their arrests in 2019 until June, when they were ordered released on speedy trial grounds. Their attorneys argued for the defendant’s release on grounds that their trial was delayed because prosecutors waited until last year to turn over thousands of pages of evidence they had for years. The evidence that was withheld included ballistics, autopsy, laboratory and DNA reports, the defense attorneys said.

In an interview last month shortly after he took office, newly sworn-in Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago vowed those problems would not occur while he is the county’s chief law enforcement officer.

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: Uncle and nephew found guilty in 2017 murder in Neptune NJ