Mercer County Man Sentenced To Over Six Decades In Prison For 2021 Homicide

Monday, August 25, 2025, 6:30 P.M. ET. 4 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

TRENTON, NJ.- Earlier this month, a 40-year-old Trenton, New Jersey, man learned he will most likely die in New Jersey State Prison after being sentenced for the August 2021 shooting death of Daquan Basnight during an annual community party in the City of Trenton.

     According to Mercer County Prosecutor Janetta D. Marbrey, on Wednesday, August 13, 2025, Matthew Tanner, 40, of Trenton, New Jersey, appeared in Mercer County Superior Court and was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Darlene J. Pereksta to 65 years in New Jersey State Prison, subject to the No Early Release Act, which will require Tanner to serve 85% of his custodial term before becoming eligible for parole. 

According The Prosecutor’s Office

     According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the sentence stems from an investigation that was conducted by the Mercer County Homicide Task Force and the Trenton Police Department, in which Detectives determined that on July 31, 2021, members of the Trenton community were within the 800 Block of Stuyvesant Avenue in the City of Trenton, celebrating “Sha-Day,” an annual block party in memory of a Trenton resident, who was killed in 2013.

     The party continued into the early morning hours of August 1, 2021, until just shortly before 12:30 a.m., when members of the Trenton Police Department responded to a multishot ShotSpotter activation and reports of a man being shot on the 800 Block of Stuyvesant Avenue. Upon arrival, Police Officers found Daquan Basnight lying in the street, having succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds to his face and body. Mr. Basnight was subsequently pronounced deceased at the scene.

     During the ensuing investigation at the time, Detectives of the Mercer County Homicide Task Force canvassed the scene and located and recovered 13 shell casings around Mr. Basnight’s body. Detectives additionally recovered video surveillance footage from a nearby business that captured portions of the shooting.

Detectives Were Able To Identify Tanner From Video Surveillance

     The surveillance footage showed that Mr. Basnight was ambushed from behind by a lone gunman who was hiding in a cut between 813 and 825 Stuyvesant Avenue. The video footage showed the suspect firing multiple rounds at Mr. Basnight and then fleeing back into the cut, running toward Craft Alley, which runs behind the homes on the 800 Block of Stuyvesant Avenue in the City. The suspect was identified as a black male, wearing a plain black T-shirt, all black pants, with a light-colored strip of fabric between the back of the shirt and pants.

     Approximately seven minutes before the shooting, Detectives identified Tanner walking to the murder location, wearing what appeared to be the same clothing as the shooter.

     Tanner was ultimately charged with Basnight’s murder in August 2021 and interviewed at the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office. Tanner arrived at the office wearing the clothes he had worn on the night of the fatal shooting of Mr. Basnight. Tanner also identified himself in multiple screenshots from the video footage before and after the murder, standing around Mr. Basnight’s body with a crowd of people. Tanner further identified himself standing next to Mr. Basnight’s body, just three seconds after the last shot was fired.

     In April 2025, Mercer County Assistant Prosecutors Michael Mennuti and Matthew Samel represented the state during a four-week trial before Judge Pereksta. The evidence and testimony presented at trial established that Tanner left the party at 835 Stuyvesant Avenue to go shower and change at 112 Hoffman Avenue and then returned to the party just minutes before the shooting, wearing an outfit matching the shooter’s.

     Tanner observed Mr. Basnight walking away from the party, then used the cut between the homes and Craft Alley to ambush Mr. Basnight from behind and then flee back to the area of the party. 

     Tanner was convicted on all counts charged in the indictment, including first-degree Murder; second-degree Unlawful Possession of a Weapon; second-degree Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose; and second-degree Certain Persons Not to Possess Weapons.