FREEHOLD, N.J. – An 18-year-old man was found guilty on all counts Thursday in the fatal 2022 shooting of a 19-year-old in Asbury Park, while his co-defendant entered a guilty plea to conspiracy to commit murder, prosecutors said.
Joseph N. Argilagos was convicted of first-degree murder, unlawful possession of a weapon, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose in connection with the death of Dariel Vernet, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago announced.
The jury reached its decision after a two-week trial in Monmouth County Superior Court. The co-defendant, 20-year-old Lydell Brown, entered his guilty plea to first-degree conspiracy to commit murder following the jury’s partial verdict, admitting he and Argilagos planned Vernet’s killing.
The July 2022 incident occurred near the Frederick Douglass Apartment Complex, where prosecutors say Brown and Argilagos followed Vernet with the intent to kill him. Police responding to gunfire on Prospect Avenue found Vernet suffering from multiple gunshot wounds; he later died at Jersey Shore University Medical Center.
Argilagos, who was 16 at the time of the crime, had his case waived to adult court in 2023. Both he and Brown are scheduled for sentencing in March 2025.