TOMS RIVER, NJ – A suspect in a February 2021 shooting murder has been indicted. On January 12, 2022, Jahvontae Debose, 25, of Lakewood, was indicted by a Grand Jury sitting in Ocean County on the charge of murder in connection with the shooting death of Dajour Randolph in Lakewood Township on February 21, 2021.
On February 21, 2021, at approximately 7:40 p.m., Lakewood Township Police were summoned to the area of Tudor Court in response to a 911 call regarding a male who had collapsed in the middle of the road. Responding Officers found Dajour Randolph, 20, of Little Egg Harbor, with an apparent gunshot wound to the chest. Mr. Randolph was transported to Monmouth Medical Center, Southern Campus, in Lakewood, where he subsequently succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased. On February 22, 2021, the Ocean County Medical Examiner performed a post-mortem examination of Mr. Randolph’s body. The Medical Examiner determined the cause of Mr. Randolph’s death to be multiple gunshot wounds and ruled the manner of death to be homicide.
Debose was initially charged on February 23, 2021 with the weapons and narcotics offenses. He was taken into custody without incident by Detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Narcotics Strike Force in Pleasantville, New Jersey, following a motor vehicle stop on that date. Debose was transported to the Ocean County Jail, where he has been lodged since the date of his arrest.
An extensive investigation conducted by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit, Lakewood Township Police Department, Lakewood Township Police Department Detective Bureau, and Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, between February 21, 2021 and February 25, 2021, revealed that Debose was, in fact, the individual responsible for Mr. Randolph’s death. Dubose was served on February 25, 2021, in the Ocean County Jail with a complaint charging him with the murder of Mr. Randolph.