Toms River man found guilty of Lakewood double murder

TOMS RIVER - An Ocean County jury today found a 42-year-old Toms River man guilty of a double murder in Lakewood in 2021.

After deliberating in the morning and watching videos from the crime scene, the panel of eight women and four men found Tyshaun Drummond guilty of the murders of Nicholas Hardy, 36, of Toms River, and Sergio Chavez-Perez, 32, of Lakewood.

Both men were fatally shot at the Brettwood apartment complex on River Avenue in Lakewood on Dec. 19, 2021.

The jury also found Drummond guilty of burglary, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a weapon.

The courtroom was packed with family of both victims and the defendant when the jury forewoman announced the verdict about 1:30 p.m. Some in the courtroom gallery silently wept upon hearing the outcome.

Drummond remained calm throughout.

He faces a minimum of 30 years without parole and up to life in prison on each murder count.

Superior Court Judge Guy P. Ryan scheduled Drummond's sentencing for Dec. 13.

"Soon, Tyshaun Drummond will be held to account for the brutal murders of Mr. Hardy and Mr. Chavez-Perez, as he faces the prospect of spending the rest of his natural-born days in prison,'' Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said in a news release after the verdict.

"We hope this jury verdict affords the loved ones of these victims some semblance of closure,'' Billhimer said.

Prosecutors alleged at a three-week trial that  Drummond shot Hardy once in the neck and three times in the back shortly after 7 a.m. as the victim slept in the bedroom of a downstairs apartment in the Brettwood complex, where the defendant, the victim and others had attended an overnight party.

After shooting Hardy, Drummond went to the apartment upstairs, shooting Chavez-Perez once in head in front of his wife and three children, Mara Brater and Robert Cassidy, assistant prosecutors argued.  Then, Drummond went back downstairs and fatally shot Hardy in the eye as he was trying to escape the apartment below, they argued.

Dramatic evidence presented at the trial included footage from cameras worn by responding police officers showing Drummond being disabled by a Taser and later telling them, "I shot everybody in the face.''

Testimony indicated that Chavez-Perez's widow Ariceli Perez, was having an affair with Drummond.

She and her oldest daughter, who was 12 at the time of the killings, testified that Drummond burst into their apartment, shot Chavez-Perez in the head and left. The mother and daughter also testified they heard another gunshot coming from downstairs - the fatal shot to Hardy's eye - after Drummond left their apartment. They were both on the phone with 911 operators when they heard that gunshot.

Defense attorney Mark Bailey tried to discredit Ariceli Perez's testimony, calling her an adulteress, lecherous and treacherous and suggesting she may have killed her husband and convinced her brother-in-law the people downstairs were responsible for it.

The jury deliberated briefly late Thursday before being sent home for the weekend and returning this morning to resume their discussions.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Toms River man found guilty of Lakewood double murder