No Charges Filed In Shooting Death Of Man At South Jersey Apartment Complex: Prosecutor

MAYS LANDING, NJ — Authorities concluded that the shooting death of a Mays Landing man this past March was justified and no charges will be filed, the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office said.

The decision was made following a full homicide investigation into the death of Kevin Schmalz, 28. Officials determined that the homeowner who shot and killed Schmalz was justified under New Jersey's self-defense law.

Police were called to the Hamilton Green Apartments at about 7:21 a.m. on March 2 for the report of a burglary in process, officials said. In the 911 call, the homeowner said he had the intruder at gunpoint and that said intruder was standing at the bottom of the stairs undressing.

The homeowner had fired a warning shot, but the intruder was not leaving, officials said. The intruder, later identified as Schmalz, had removed all of his clothing and went up the stairs towards the homeowner, authorities said.

The homeowner fired one additional shot, which struck Schmalz in the chest, officials said. Schmalz was pronounced dead at the scene.

The home's front door was unlocked at the time and the homeowner denied knowing Schmalz, which was confirmed in the following investigation.

Investigation found that Schmalz had become disoriented either after or before being involved in a nearby car accident. It appeared that in an attempt to walk back to his brother's home, which was in the complex, Schmalz fell into a creek. This was confirmed by his clothes being wet when police arrived, authorities said. At the time, the outside temperature was below 20 degrees, according to officials.

Under New Jersey law, a person is not obligated to retreat from his dwelling, unless he was the initial aggressor, when the person reasonably believes that deadly force is immediately necessary for the purpose of protecting himself or other people in the dwelling against the use of unlawful force by the intruder on the present occasion, authorities said.

A reasonable belief exists when the person, to protect himself or others, was in his own dwelling at the time of the offense and the encounter between the person and the intruder was sudden and unexpected, compelling the person to act instantly and, the person reasonably believed that the intruder would inflict personal injury upon the person or others in the dwelling or, the person demanded that the intruder withdraw, and the intruder refused to do so.