Tyshaun Drummond, 42, of Toms River, has been sentenced to 60 years in New Jersey State Prison for the cold-blooded murders of Nicholas Hardy, 36, of Toms River, and Sergio Chavez-Perez, 32, of Lakewood. Judge Guy P. Ryan imposed consecutive 30-year sentences for each murder, both without the possibility of parole.
The harrowing events unfolded on December 19, 2021, when Lakewood Township Police were called to an apartment complex on River Avenue at approximately 7:20 a.m. following reports of gunshots. Dispatch provided officers with a description of the suspect, leading them to Drummond, who was standing outside the building. When Drummond refused to comply with officers’ orders, he was subdued using a Conducted Energy Device (CED).
Inside the apartment building, officers discovered a chilling scene: the lifeless bodies of Hardy and Chavez-Perez, both executed with gunshots to the head.
A meticulous investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit, Lakewood Township Police Department, and Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit identified Drummond as the killer. He was taken into custody and has remained in the Ocean County Jail since his release from a hospital on December 21, 2021.
Drummond was convicted of two counts of murder following a nearly month-long jury trial. In addition to the murder charges, he was also found guilty of burglary and sentenced to 10 years for that offense, to run concurrently with the murder sentences.
Bring back the death penalty for open shut cases. No need to burden the taxpayer for 60 years.