If the facts of how this fight went down in the AP Press are true,
the owners of The Deep have a big problem regarding civil liability
for lack of security:
Man slain; family looks for answers
Pinelands graduate, 25, killed in Asbury dispute
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 01/16/07
BY MICHELLE SAHN
STAFF WRITER
ASBURY PARK Carol and Charles Zemartis of Tuckerton planned to
awaken early Monday to drive to Philadelphia, where Charles' 92-year-
old mother would be laid to rest.
But the Ocean County couple missed the funeral as they tried to
learn more about the Sunday evening homicide in Asbury Park that
claimed the life of one of their grandchildren, an Iraq veteran and
graduate of Pinelands Regional High School in Little Egg Harbor.
On Monday, police were trying to determine exactly what happened to
James C. Morrison, 25, of the New Gretna section of Bass River in
Burlington County, who was pronounced dead Sunday evening at Jersey
Shore University Medical Center, Neptune. The case is proceeding as
a homicide investigation, authorities said.
"It doesn't make sense," said Morrison's grandmother, Carol
Zemartis. "I don't think there was anyone who did not like James.
It's such a thing. All night long, you're just picturing . . . and
when you can't get any information, that's the worst thing. You
think someone's going to get away with this."
Morrison's death was the first homicide in Monmouth County this
year. In 2006, there were 16 homicides in the county, including
eight in Asbury Park.
Along with friends, Morrison went to Deep, a club on the boardwalk,
near the intersection of Second and Ocean avenues in Asbury Park on
Sunday, authorities said.
While the events of that evening are still being investigated, there
was an argument and a fight, "which at some juncture, proceeded
outside," said First Assistant Monmouth County Prosecutor Peter
Warshaw.
"The exact role that Mr. Morrison played in any of this remains
under investigation," said Warshaw. "Police are still working to
piece together precisely what happened."
But at 5:50 p.m., Asbury Park police received a call indicating that
Morrison had sustained injuries, he said.
They responded and found the 25-year-old on the ground in front of
the club, said Warshaw. Morrison was taken to the hospital in
Neptune, where he was pronounced dead around 6:30 p.m.
Warshaw said based on the findings so far, Morrison's death does not
appear to be gang-related.
Caroline O'Toole, the general manager of Deep, said the incident
happened on the sidewalk outside the club, but she did not know any
details about what took place.
Morrison's mother, Lorrie Morrison, 44, of Little Egg Harbor, said
her son and his friends arrived at the club around 5 p.m. because
they wanted to hear one of the bands that was set to play.
She said she was being given little information by authorities about
what happened, but had talked to her son's friends.
"They were sitting at the bar and had a couple of drinks," she
said. "There was something where guys were arguing and, out of the
blue, one guy threw a bar stool at my son and hit him in the head."
She said her son was struck by a stool a second time, this time in
the side of his body, she said.
Lorrie Morrison said her son and his friends were asked to leave the
club, and her son was dazed, so his friends helped him out.
"Out of the blue someone came from behind . . . and hit him in the
head," she said.
His friends heard a loud crack, and her son fell to the ground, she
said.
Lorrie Morrison said her son grew up in both Bass River and Little
Egg Harbor and graduated from Pinelands Regional.
She said her son, her oldest child, had many friends and loved to go
to concerts. He played guitar.
He spent several years in the Navy and was stationed on the USS
Bataan during the war in Iraq, she said.
She described him as thoughtful and said he always ended
conversations by saying "I love you, mom." He was also close to his
younger sister and his grandparents, she said.
Carol Zemartis said her grandson was a courteous young man.
"You couldn't ask for a nicer grandson," she said. "In the
beginning, you're so upset it's just grief. But after you start to
get angry, because whoever did it, it was intent to kill."
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AsburyPark/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AsburyPark/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
