Asbury Park Man Pleads Guilty To Aggravated Manslaughter

ASBURY PARK, NJ – An 85-year-old Asbury Park man pleaded guilty on Friday to a signal count of aggravated manslaughter for his role in the 2018 death of a fellow Asbury Park resident, according to the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.

Johnny Westbrook admitted that on Dec 21, 2018, he drove his 1998 Ford Explorer to a local store where the victim, 63-year old Daniel Rivera, a fellow tenant in his building, had gone. Westbrook then waited outside the store in his vehicle for several minutes.

At that point, Westbrook admitted to driving along the sidewalk, striking the victim after he left the store, and dragged him several feet before leaving the victim in the road. Westbrook acknowledged that his actions resulted in the victim’s death.

A joint investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the Asbury Park Police Department revealed that Westbrook and the victim had been involved in a physical altercation a little more than one month before the homicide due to Westbrook’s jealousy over the victim’s friendship with a woman.

That animosity culminated in Westbrook’s actions of running the victim down while he was walking home the week before Christmas. Westbrook immediately fled the scene and returned to his apartment. Police ultimately discovered Westbrook’s SUV parked a few hundred feet from the crime scene with the victim’s blood and hair on the bottom of the vehicle.

Westbrook faces up to 10 years in prison, with parole after 8.5 years, when he is sentenced on Aug 19.