Nearly 15 years after the brutal killing of 22-year-old Rondell Proctor stunned a quiet Toms River apartment complex, justice may finally be within reach. Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer announced Wednesday that a Grand Jury has indicted Maurice Cole, 36, and Jerron Evans, 41—both of Lakewood—on charges of murder in connection with the long-unsolved crime.
The breakthrough brings closure to a case that had grown ice-cold in the years since a 12:40 a.m. shooting on May 27, 2010, left Proctor—a young man from Arkansas—dead from multiple gunshot wounds, including a shot to the face.
Officers from the Toms River Township Police Department responded that night to a frantic 911 call from Winteringham Village Apartments on Route 166. There, they found Proctor clinging to life, riddled with bullets to the torso and face. He was rushed to Community Medical Center but was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
Despite an intense initial investigation led by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit and Toms River Police, the trail soon went cold. For over a decade, the identity of Proctor’s killers remained a mystery—until now.
Prosecutor Billhimer credited the latest charges to “persistent and relentless” investigative work, along with modern forensic testing on evidence that was previously inconclusive or unavailable.
On December 3, 2024, a multi-agency operation involving the Ocean County Major Crime Unit, local police departments, and the Ocean County Regional SWAT Team led to the arrests of Cole and Evans. Both men were taken into custody without incident and have remained in the Ocean County Jail since.
