Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office
MAYS LANDING – Atlantic County Prosecutor Damon G. Tyner has announced an arrest in connection with the murder of Sunil Edla, 61, of Ventnor. Edla was shot to death Thursday evening on North Nashville Avenue in Ventnor City.
The Ventnor City Police Department received a 9-1-1 call at 8:04 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 15 for a report of a man down in the area of 8 N. Nashville Ave. Police arrived and located the victim, Edla, on the sidewalk in front of his residence at 6 N. Nashville Ave., with suspected gunshot wounds and no obvious signs of life.
Edla’s vehicle, a 2002 Subaru Forester, was missing from the scene. The vehicle was subsequently found by Atlantic City Police Officers on the 1600-block of Sewell Avenue in Atlantic City.
After the vehicle was located by the officers, the suspect was subsequently tracked with the assistance of the Atlantic City surveillance center.
Further investigation by the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office, Ventnor City Police Department and the Atlantic City Police Department led to the identification and arrest of the suspect, a juvenile male from Egg Harbor City, Friday morning.The Atlantic City SWAT team arrested the suspect without incident at approximately 10:18 a.m. on the 1500-block of Sewell Avenue.
“The speedy arrest of the juvenile charged for this homicide is an example of the success of the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office working collaboratively with the Ventnor City Police Department and the Atlantic City Police Department to cooperatively investigate violent crime in our region,” Tyner said. “I thank them all for their hard work and commitment in this and every investigation. The professionalism of these three agencies is directly responsible for the arrest of this individual.”
Dr. Peter Mazari of the New Jersey Southern Regional Medical Examiner’s Office performed an autopsy on Friday. The preliminary autopsy show the cause of death to be multiple gunshot wounds and the manner of death homicide.
The 16-year-old suspect was charged as juvenile with the following offenses:
- Murder 1st degree
- Felony murder 1st degree
- Robbery 1st degree
- Carjacking 1st degree
- Unlawful possession of a handgun 2nd degree
- Possession of handgun for unlawful purpose 2nd degree
The suspect was lodged in the Harborfields Juvenile Detention Facility in Egg Harbor City this afternoon. Chief Assistant Prosecutor Seth Levy represents the state in the matter.
