Little Egg Harbor Man Sentenced For Fatal Stabbing

LITTLE EGG HARBOR, NJ — A Little Egg Harbor man was sentenced to 14 years in New Jersey State Prison in connection with a fatal stabbing in 2018, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer announced Friday.

Kendrick Coley, 29, had previously pleaded guilty to the stabbing death of Richard Pone on May 16, 2018. Due to the No Early Release Act, he must serve at least 85 percent of his prison sentence before he may be considered for parole eligibility.

On May 16, 2018 at 8:15 p.m., officers from the Little Egg Harbor Police Department responded to a 911 call in reference to a stabbing incident that had taken place at a home on Maplewood Drive, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

When police arrived, they found Coley in the garage area. A woman in the residence took them to a second floor bedroom, where they discovered Pone unresponsive with a stab wound in his left upper chest. Pone was pronounced dead at the scene at 8:42 p.m., authorities said.

An investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office Major Crime Unit and Little Egg Harbor Police Department Detective Bureau determined that Coley had stabbed the victim multiple times after the two had engaged in a physical altercation at the residence, Billhimer said.

Coley was apprehended at the scene and taken into custody without incident. He has been lodged in the Ocean County Jail since the date of his arrest.

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