Burlington County Prosecutor LaChia L. Bradshaw and Willingboro Director of Public Safety Captain Ian Bucs announced that criminal charges have been upgraded against a 35-year-old man who was arrested last week after striking a woman in the head with a baseball bat in the home they share in the Rittenhouse Park section of Willingboro Township.
The additional charges against Quamel Benton include Attempted Murder (First Degree), Endangering an Injured Victim (Third Degree), and five counts of Neglecting a Child (Fourth Degree). He was initially charged with Aggravated Assault (Second Degree) and Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose (Third Degree) following his apprehension on March 22. During a detention hearing today in Superior Court in Mount Holly, Benton was ordered to be held pending trial and was lodged in the Burlington County Jail.
The Prosecutor’s Office will now prepare the case for presentation to a grand jury for possible indictment.
The investigation began March 21, 2024, after officers from the Willingboro Township Police Department responded to a residence in the first block of Raeburn Lane for a report of a disturbance. They discovered an adult female inside with a severe head wound. She was airlifted to Cooper University Hospital in Camden, where she remains in critical but stable condition.
The investigation revealed that after assaulting the woman, Benton fled in her vehicle prior to the arrival of police, leaving young children in the household.
Benton was apprehended by officers from the Toms River Police Department in Ocean County just before 1 a.m. on March 22 following a foot pursuit that began after he lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a utility pole.
In addition to eluding and resisting arrest, he was charged in Ocean County with trying to pull a teenage girl into his vehicle, and also with approaching a woman in the parking lot of a retail store and grabbing and touching her in an inappropriate manner.
Benton is being prosecuted by BCPO Assistant Prosecutor Jamie Hutchinson. The investigation of the crimes committed in Burlington County was conducted by detectives from the Willingboro Township Police Department and the Prosecutor’s Office. The lead investigators are BCPO Detectives Shannon Sawyer and Steven Trunfio, and WTPD Detective Monica Pogorzelski.
All persons are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
2024-11 Wilingboro Charges Upgraded to Attempted Murder