South Jersey Man Gets 13 Years For Aggravated Assault Death

MAYS LANDING- A Mays Landing man was recently sentenced to 13 years in state prison for causing the death of a man by punching him during a Nov. 2, 2017 incident, Atlantic County Prosecutor Damon G. Tyner said.

Calvin Wiggins, 24, pleaded guilty to one count of first degree of aggravated manslaughter in June for causing the death of John Charlton, 55.

Hamilton Township Police responded to the scene on November 2, 2017, where Wiggins was involved in a domestic dispute on Route 40 near the intersection of Cantillion Boulevard. Charlton left his vehicle and yelled at Wiggins to stop assaulting a woman.

Wiggins punched him and Charlton fell to the ground and struck his head. He never regained consciousness. Charlton was hospitalized at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, City Campus after the assault and died on Sunday Nov. 12, as a result of the his injuries sustained, Tyner said.

Wiggins was already on parole for a second degree robbery charge at the time of the homicide. He has been serving the remainder of the robbery sentence in state prison. The aggravated manslaughter sentence will not begin until Wiggins finishes serving the robbery sentence, the prosecutor said.

The court rejected Wiggins’ request to be given jail credit for that time served and also rejected his request to have the aggravated manslaughter sentence run concurrent to the parole sentence, Tyner said.

Anyone with information involving serious crimes is asked to call the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office at 609-909-7800 or go to the Prosecutor’s Office Web site at http://www.acpo.org/tips.html and provide information by filling out the form anonymously on the Submit a Tip page.

People can also call Crime Stoppers at 609-652-1234 or 1-800-658-8477 (TIPS) or visit the Crime Stoppers Website at http://www.crimestoppersatlantic.com/. Crime Stoppers offers cash rewards for information leading to the arrest and indictment of those who commit crimes in Atlantic County.

Photo: Courtesy of Shutterstock