Man Pleads Guilty In 2024 Fatal Shooting Of Eatontown Cab Driver

EATONTOWN, NJ — This week, a Brooklyn man admitted to fatally shooting Eatontown resident Anthony Hill in September of 2024.

Gaetano Scannavino, 26, with a last known address in Brooklyn, pleaded guilty Tuesday before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Henry Butehorn to one count of first-degree aggravated manslaughter for the killing of Hill, 42.

At the time he was killed, Hill worked as a cab driver for Red Bank Yellow Car. He was shot early on a Saturday morning in the parking lot of Holly Hill motel on Rt. 36 in Hazlet. At 7:18 a.m. Sept. 14, 2024, Hazlet Police responded to the motel parking lot for an EMS call. Upon arrival, officers discovered an adult man, later identified as Hill, deceased on the ground near a Dumpster. Hill had been shot multiple times and also had a cut on his head.

The prosecutor has never revealed why Scannavino shot Hill that night, killing him. But Scannavino and a woman with him had argued earlier that evening; they then called the cab to take them to Holly Hill motel.

Police say Scannavino shot Hill while he was driving; he shot him after he pulled into the motel parking lot. Hill's yellow cab then rolled forward, coming to a stop when it hit the Dumpster. The woman who was inside the cab got out and ran off on foot; Scannavino pulled Hill out of the driver's seat and threw his body to the ground. He then got into the driver's seat of the cab and backed up, driving over Hill.

Scannavino drove the cab to Brooklyn, where he tried, unsuccessfully, to light it on fire. Bullet holes were found in the cab.

The woman Scannavino was with that night was a key witness to the fatal shooting.

Hill, 42, known as "Ant" to his friends and family, left behind a wife and a daughter, according to this GoFundMe set up to raise money for them.

An investigation involving members of the MCPO and Hazlet Police Department resulted in Scannavino being identified as the suspect. Scannavino will be sentenced Feb. 18, and the Monmouth County Prosecutor intends to ask that he serve 30 years in state prison.

Last year: Man Fatally Shot At Hazlet Motel Identified As Eatontown Taxi Driver (2024)

Slain Eatontown Cab Driver Leaves Behind Wife And Daughter (2024)