Galloway Twp., NJ, Man Sentenced For 2019 Drug-induced Death in Ocean County

A 22-year-old man from Galloway Township has been sentenced in connection to a drug-induced death in 2019.

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Shemar Jackson had previously pleaded guilty to a strict liability drug-induced death charge this past August.

On Friday, he was sentenced to seven years in state prison and must serve at least 85 percent of his term before becoming eligible for parole.

The Ocean County Prosecutor's Office says on December 5, 2019, officers from the Toms River Township Police Department responded to a home for a report of a 24-year-old unresponsive male. At the scene, police discovered that he had already died from an apparent drug overdose.

A subsequent investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office...revealed that Jackson was the supplier of heroin and fentanyl that were distributed to the victim on December 4, 2019. Further investigation and laboratory analysis confirmed the presence of heroin and fentanyl in the victim’s system, which caused the victim’s death.

On January 23, 2020, Jackson was arrested at his home in Galloway Township.

Jackson was initially lodged in the Ocean County Jail but subsequently released per New Jersey bail reform guidelines. He has been serving a sentence on an unrelated offense in New Jersey State Prison since November 2021.

Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer thanked the numerous law enforcement agencies that were involved in this case, including the Toms River Township, Barnegat Township, and Galloway Township Police Departments; the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office, and Ocean County Sheriff’s Office.