Long Branch Found Guilty Of Armed Home Invasion & Vehicular Homicide

Monday, June 16, 2025, 8:00 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

LONG BRANCH, NJ.- A 47-year-old Long Branch, New Jersey, man is facing life in New Jersey State State Prison after being found guilty last week by a Monmouth County Superior Court jury in connection with a 2023 home invasion and a motor vehicle crash that claimed the life of 38-year-old Long Branch, New Jersey, woman.

     According to Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago, following a four-week trial before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Joseph W. Oxley, the jury found Altonia D. Williams guilty of eighteen counts, including first-degree Armed Robbery; Felony Murder; Aggravated Manslaughter While Eluding; and Vehicular Homicide, as well as seven second-degree crimes, two third-degree crimes, and five fourth-degree crimes.

Williams Faces Up To Life In State Prison

     Following the jury returning their findings of guilt, Judge Oxley accepted the verdict and scheduled sentencing for Wednesday, September 17, 2025. At that time, Williams faces up to life in State Prison.

     The conviction stems from an investigation that began on Monday, August 14, 2023, when shortly before 4:00 a.m., members of the Long Branch Police Department responded to a residence located on Narragansett Avenue on a report armed home invasion regarding a man, later identified as Williams, brandishing a handgun and demanding money from the residents inside the home.

     Upon arriving at the location, Responding Police Officers observed Williams in a white BMW fleeing the scene. Ignoring Police orders to stop, Williams continued to escape from Police Officers and, within a minute, crashed into a marked patrol vehicle that had been responding to the scene. Williams then jumped out of the car and fled on foot, leaving his front seat passenger, 38-year-old Tracee Blount of Long Branch, New Jersey. Responding Police Officers were able to free Ms. Blount from the vehicle, but she was pronounced deceased a short time later at a nearby hospital.

     Williams was later found hiding in a nearby bush and taken into custody. During his arrest, Police Officers found him in possession of a loaded handgun. It was later determined that Williams was intoxicated by marijuana at the time of the collision. Following being charged, a Monmouth County Grand Jury returned an indictment against Williams in December 2023.