An Atlantic City, New Jersey man is jailed in the killing of his girlfriend inside her Pleasantville home, about a week after he allegedly brandished a gun at her during an argument.
36-year-old Lamar Pitts admitted to shooting his girlfriend with a stolen 9mm handgun inside the home she shared with her two sons, according to the affidavit of probable cause obtained by local news.
He is charged with aggravated manslaughter, receiving stolen property and several weapons offenses, including possession of a weapon by a convicted felon. Pitts has a prior drug conviction, according to court records.
30-year-old Jazmen Martin-Richardson was found shot in the neck inside the kitchen of her home on the 1100 block of Iowa Avenue, the affidavit states.
Her two sons were asleep in the home.
Witnesses told police that Pitts brandished a black handgun matching the alleged murder weapon during a verbal altercation on May 15. There were no details about that incident in the report, but the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office said in a news release that Pitts was also charged with additional weapons offenses for an incident in Pleasantville that occurred a week prior to the homicide.
Pitts is the one who called 911 just after Martin-Richardson was shot at about 12:10 Monday morning, according to the affidavit.
He told police that a woman had been shot in the chest at a home in the 1100 block of Iowa Avenue but would not answer how he knew she was shot, the affidavit states.
Early in the four-minute call, Pitts stopped talking but did not hang up, according to the affidavit.
During the break in conversation, a camera recorded someone running from the back yard toward a wooded area off-camera before returning to the back yard, the affidavit states. The figure was “consistent with Pitts,” it reads.
Police recovered a stolen 9mm handgun in that area. A spent 9 mm shell casing was found on the kitchen floor where Martin-Richardson was found.
It was not clear why Pitts is charged with aggravated manslaughter and not murder.
Pitts is in the Atlantic County Justice Facility awaiting a detention hearing.
The Atlantic County jail does not release mug shots under an order by the former county prosecutor.
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