18 Year Old Long Branch Man Charged With Murder
Dante Strong, top right. photo from Strong’s facebook page
Dante Strong, 18, of Long Branch was charged with the murder of Adrian Anderson, 23, also of Long Branch, yesterday according to a statement released by Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.
Officers from the Long Branch Police Department were in the area of Central Avenue and Liberty Street in Long Branch around 2:29 a.m. on September 21, 2013, when they heard gunshots. Officers responding to the sounds of gunfire and were flagged down by several people at 135 Liberty Street, where they found the victim on the front porch, unconscious and bleeding from several gunshot wounds. The victim was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune Township, where he was pronounced dead at 5:22 a.m., despite the efforts made to save his life by medical personnel.
A joint investigation was launched by the Long Branch Police Department and the Monmouth County Prosecutors Office. During the course of the investigation, Strong was linked to an armed robbery the morning prior to the shooting, near the intersection of Central Avenue and Ellis Avenue in Long Branch, less than one block from where the victim was killed.
Strong was arrested in connection with the Sept. 20, 2013 robbery on October 3, 2013, when he was charged with two counts of Armed Robbery, Possession of a Firearm for an Unlawful Purpose, and Unlawful Possession of a Firearm. He was lodged in MCCI on $600,000 cash only bail, as set by Judge Richard W. English. Judge English set Strong’s bail on the murder charges at $850,000, cash only.
A September report of Anderson’s death by News12 said that Anderson was shot 5 times outside his aunt’s Liberty St. home and that his father, David Byrd, witness the shooting.
Adrian Anderson was murder in Long Branch on September 21.
Byrd says his son had been at the house to help his aunt and got into an argument with a group of what Byrd says were gang members.
Byrd says police responded two separate times to break up the fight, but after police left, the shooter returned and killed Anderson.
A September 21 NJ.com report said that Anderson worked at Monmouth Park and quoted his landlord, James Perry, as saying that the shooting occurred after a fist fight earlier in the day.
“He was a nice kid, and he worked hard,” Perry said. “He didn’t deserve what happened to him.”
Perry said Anderson was a quiet man who had recently gotten into a disagreement with another city resident.
“I heard that he and a boy had a dispute, and it led to fisticuffs,” Perry said. “Adrian beat him, but I guess he didn’t let it go, he came back and shot him in the back.”
If convicted of murder, Strong faces a sentence of 30 years to life in a New Jersey state prison, be subject to the provisions of the No Early Release Act (NERA). NERA requires that a defendant serve 85 percent of the sentence imposed in excess of 30 years prior to becoming eligible for parole.
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GrandMa Strong in da house!
Dante is a good boy!
He ain’t done nothing wrong, ever!
You can ask the people around here, we ain’t ever seen this kid anywhere but in church!
Dante’s daddy, Mr. Byrd, ain’t been around in years and now he’s trying to steal the anchorman’s 5 minutes from me!
According to the article posted, and I quote,
“News12 said that Anderson was shot 5 times outside his aunt’s Liberty St. home and that his father, David Byrd, witness the shooting.”
I read that to mean “Mr. Byrd” is the dead boy’s father, not the accused.
In his/her zeal to mock this terrible incident using blatantly mocking racial commentary (the written equivalent of a “blackface” performance) the idiot writing it under the nom de plume ‘Grandma Strong” highlighted their own stupidity and lack of the most basic reading comprehension.
So Mr. Byrd is Mr Anderson’s daddy then, great. That makes the point of a lack off father figure angle only slightly different. Thanks, now head on back to the toy store.
What the hell is wrong with you people? A kid is in jail for a cold blooded murder of another young man. My son went to LB High with Dante and he said he was screwed up and obnoxious back in th 9th grade. Where are his parents. Are they ok that he is in the Bloods for years? 18 years old and already his soul is cold and as dead as the victim. They should arrest all in the picture posted. I’m sure they are all guilty for random acts of violence in my neighborhood.
How all that urban renewal and accompanying condemnation working out for ya, LB?
Obviously not well. Our community heads are very concerned for the growth of Pier Village and now some multi-million condo complex where the towers are. None of those residents in there or at Pier give a crap about Long Branch. Unless, they are getting robbed or their property destroyed. Broadway with that ridiculous sign “Coming Spring”
spring of when 2055?? Broadway shut down and boarded up. It’s disgraceful. Most are out of towners and they are not shopping or eating out of their precious Peir Village. Long Branch needs a change soon. Programs for our children and teens and more community involvement.
FREEEEE MR. POOKSIDE !!!! WE LOVE YOU TAE STRONG !!!!
THEY NEED TO PUT HIM UNDER THE JAIL!! SOMEBODY IN THERE IS GONNA GIVE HIM WHAT HE’S LOOKING FOR!! MY GIRLS ARE GONNA HAVE TO GROW UP WITHOUT A FATHER BECAUSE HIS OF BITCH ASS!! AND IM GONNA DO EVERYTHING IN MY POWER TO MAKE SURE HE NEVER SEES THE LIGHT OF DAY AGAIN