Long Branch Man Sentenced To Life Plus 30 Years For Home Invasion & Vehicular Homicide

Monday, September 29, 2025, 7:00 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

LONG BRANCH, NJ.- A 47-year-old former Long Branch, New Jersey, man learned that he will have to die in New Jersey State Prison before he can serve his additional 30-year term in prison after being sentenced for committing an armed home invasion, crashing his vehicle, and fleeing on foot, leaving his passenger to die in his burning vehicle, which occurred in August 2023.

     According to Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago, earlier this month, Altonia D. Williams, 47, formerly of Long Branch, New Jersey, appeared in Monmouth County Superior Court and was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Joseph W. Oxley to life plus 30 years in New Jersey State Prison.

As Previously Reported

     As previously reported, on Monday, August 14, 2023, just shortly before 4:00 a.m., members of the Long Branch Police Department responded to a residence located on Narragansett Avenue in Long Branch after receiving a 911 Emergency Call reporting an armed home invasion involving a man, later identified as Williams, brandishing a handgun and demanding money from the residents inside the home.

According To The Prosecutor’s Office

     According to the Prosecutor’s Office, upon arrival at the location, Responding Police Officers discovered Williams in a White BMW leaving the area. Ignoring Police orders to stop, Williams fled from the first-arriving Police Officer, and less than a minute later, crashed into a second Police Patrol vehicle. Williams then fled his vehicle on foot, leaving behind his front-seat passenger, 38-year-old Tracee Blunt of Long Branch, New Jersey.

     Responding Police Officers were able to extricate her from the crashed and burning BMW, but she later succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced deceased a short time later at a local hospital.

     Williams was later found hiding in a bush nearby, in possession of a loaded handgun. During the initial investigation, Detectives determined that Williams had been under the influence of marijuana at the time of the home invasion and subsequent motor vehicle crash.

     Earlier this year, following a four-week trial in Monmouth County Superior Court, before Judge Oxley, a jury found Williams guilty of eighteen counts charged in an indictment, 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. 

     “The sentence imposed by the court was justified, given this defendant’s disregard for the value of human life,” Prosecutor Santiago said.