2 More Charged With Attempted Murder In Toms River Shooting

TOMS RIVER, NJ -- Two more men have been charged with attempted murder in connection with shots fired into a Hopes Crossing apartment in January, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said Friday.

Lyjhahn Cromartie, 19, of Lakehurst, and Shazir Vallade, 20, of Lakewood, were each charged with three counts of attempted murder in the shooting on Jan. 13, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

Toms River police were called to Justice Court in Hopes Crossing just before 2 a.m. on Jan. 13 for shots fired, authorities said.

Investigators determined three men had fired gunshots into an apartment and an adult and two children were in the apartment at the time, authorities said.

Authorities determined Javir Askew-Mayweather, 21, of Manchester, was one of the three responsible for firing the shots and on Feb. 3 he was charged with three counts of attempted murder, the prosecutor's office said.

Askew-Mayweather was arrested Feb. 4 in Atlantic City by the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force. He was taken to the Ocean County Jail and later released as a consequence of New Jersey Bail Reform.

Cromartie and Vallade were identified as the other two men in the shooting as the investigation continued, the prosecutor's office said.

Cromartie was arrested Friday at his home by the Ocean County Regional SWAT Team. Vallade also was arrested Friday, by detectives from the prosecutor's office and Berkeley Township police while he was at his place of employment in Berkeley Township, authorities said.

Cromartie and Vallade were taken to the Ocean County Jail, where they are being held pending a detention hearing.