Long Branch Man Found Guilty For 2023 Home Invasion, Death Of Woman In His Car

LONG BRANCH, NJ — A Long Branch man was convicted at trial this week for a 2023 home invasion and subsequent car crash that resulted in a woman’s death.

Altonia D. Williams, 47, of Long Branch, is facing up to life in prison at his sentencing, which is scheduled for Sept. 17.

Shortly before 4 a.m. on Monday, August 14, 2023, Long Branch Police were called to a home on Narragansett Avenue in Long Branch for a report of an armed home invasion. A man inside the home, later identified as Williams, showed a gun and demanded money from the home’s residents

Responding police located Williams in a white BMW fleeing the area. Ignoring police orders to stop, he fled and, less than a minute later, crashed into a patrol vehicle that had been responding to the scene.

Williams then fled his vehicle on foot, leaving behind his front-seat passenger, 38-year-old Tracee Blount of Long Branch.

Responding officers managed to extricate her from the heavily damaged and burning vehicle, but she was pronounced deceased at a local hospital shortly thereafter.

Williams was later found hiding in a bush nearby, in possession of a loaded handgun. The investigation later revealed that he had been intoxicated on marijuana at the time of the collision.

The four-week trial before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Joseph Oxley resulted in guilty verdicts on 18 charges in all, including first-degree Armed Robbery, Felony Murder, Aggravated Manslaughter While Eluding, and Vehicular Homicide.