Burlington County Acting Prosecutor LaChia L. Bradshaw and Beverly City Public Safety Director Rich Wolbert announced that charges have been filed against a man who barricaded himself in a Beverly City residence early yesterday morning when police went to the Bentley Avenue home after receiving information that a homicide had been committed there a short time earlier.
The situation came to the attention of the Beverly City Police Department at approximately 1:15 a.m. yesterday when they were contacted by a woman who indicated she had received a call from a man she knew who was inside the residence at the time. The woman said Larry Brown, 27, told her that another man in the home, Cecilio Luciano, had been killed.
Police became aware that a woman and four children resided at the home and were present with Brown. When contacted by police, Brown refused to exit the house, but the woman and kids emerged unharmed over the next several hours. Brown came out at approximately 8:30 a.m. and was taken into custody.
The New Jersey State Police TEAMS Unit entered the home and discovered Luciano’s body. The preliminary investigation, utilizing information provided by some of the occupants, indicated that Luciano, 34, of Highland Park, had been fatally shot.
However, an autopsy performed by Burlington County Medical Examiner Dr. Ian Hood indicated he had been bludgeoned to death.
Brown, of Burlington Township, was charged with Certain Persons Not to Have Weapons, Kidnapping and Unlawful Possession of a Weapon, all second-degree crimes. He was lodged in the Burlington County Jail in Mount Holly pending a detention hearing in Superior Court.
At this time, no charges have been filed in connection with the homicide. The investigation remains active.
The investigation is being conducted by the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office, with assistance from the Beverly City Police Department, Burlington County Bridge Commission Police Department, Delanco Police Department, Delran Police Department, Edgewater Park Township Police Department, New Jersey State Police, Riverside Township Police Department and the U.S. Marshals Service New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force.
The lead investigators are BCPO Detectives Jenn Marchese, Kevin Sobotka and Andrew Ridolfi.
All persons are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.