Man Sentenced to 40 Years for 2008 Eatontown Murder

Kenneth M. Bacon-Vaughters, 21, of Neptune, was sentenced to 40 years in state prison on Friday for the 2008 murder of Nathaniel Wiggins at his Eatontown apartment, according to a release from the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office.

Bacon-Vaughters was sentenced by Judge Richard W. English after a jury found him guilty of first-degree Felony Murder, First degree Armed robbery, second degree Conspiracy (to commit armed robbery) and second degree Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose.

Eatontown Police responded to a "911" call reporting shots fired at 264 Route 35 on March 11, 2008 at 10:15 p.m. and found Wiggins on the floor of his second floor apartment with a gunshot wound in his chest and was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead at 5:36 a.m.

During the four-week trial, testimony established that Bacon-Vaughters and three codefendants, Tahj J. Pines, Aron T. Pines and Lashawn Fitch, drove to the victim's apartment in Eatontown with a plan to rob Wiggins. Upon arrival, three of the four, including Bacon-Vaughters, exited the vehicle and approached the apartment, while the other remained in the driver's seat of the vehicle in order to facilitate a quick getaway.

Bacon-Vaughters knocked on Wiggins' door and when it was opened, the other two defendants, wearing masks, approached Wiggins. Wiggins was ultimately shot one time, as one of the masked individuals was carrying a handgun, and the three defendants ran from the apartment, entered the vehicle and all four men fled the scene.

The cases against the three codefendants are still pending and no trial dates have been set. The three remain in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution in lieu of bail.