'He was a good kid': Innocent victim's killers get decades in Toms River gang shooting

TOMS RIVER - Two gang members were both sentenced to decades in prison Friday in a brazen shooting in a densely populated apartment complex that claimed the life of an unintended target, a 19-year-old Berkeley Township man.

Superior Court Judge Guy P. Ryan sentenced Daivon Sullivan, 21, of Toms River, identified as the triggerman in the shooting that claimed the life of Javon Cutler, to 50 years in state prison.

The judge sentenced Leyron Jones, 26, also of Toms River, to 60 years in state prison.

Both stood trial in August and were convicted of murder, attempted murder and weapons offenses.

Although Jones was not the gunman, Ryan said he was a gang "general'' who gave Sullivan the order to shoot.

"I find the shooter less culpable than the person who drove and ordered the shooting,'' Ryan said.

With that, Jones attempted to leave the courtroom, but was restrained by sheriff's officers who told him it was disrespectful not to hear his sentence and face relatives of the victim who packed the courtroom.

Robert Cassidy, an assistant Ocean County prosecutor who tried the case with Assistant Prosecutor Stephen Burke, said both defendants were members of the Mob Piru street gang seeking to enforce their rules and punish a gang member who wanted to leave.

On Jones' orders, Sullivan fired 14 bullets into a car with the intention of killing everyone inside, Cassidy said. The shooting occurred at the Toms River Apartments on Main Street on Oct. 11, 2020.

While bullets scattered everywhere, Cutler, a rear-seat passenger who was an unintended target and innocent victim, was the only person struck, Cassidy said. One bullet struck him in the head.

"Only by the grace of God, more people weren't killed,'' Ryan said.

The driver of the bullet-riddled vehicle that was fired upon rushed Cutler to Community Medical Center in Toms River. The victim was transferred to Jersey Shore University Hospital in Neptune, where he succumbed three days later.

Ryan, in sentencing the pair, recalled that the driver of the car that was fired upon was asked during the trial why he drove away on a rim, with a shredded tire, tearing up the pavement as he fled the shooting. Ryan noted the man's response: "Because I wouldn't be sitting here if I didn't.''

Jones and Sullivan continued to maintain their innocence Friday, saying the person responsible was a codefendant who pleaded guilty and testified against them at the trial.

The codefendant, Shadrach Correa, 21, of Toms River, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and is awaiting sentencing.

"I can't apologize to you because I didn't do it,'' Jones said before he was sentenced. "This is not about Javon Cutler. This is about turning one conviction into three.''

Sullivan's attorney, Eric Feinberg, asked for leniency for his young client.

"He's going to grow up inside prison,'' Feinberg said of Sullivan.

He asked that Sullivan be given a chance at some point to experience life outside prison.

"You talk about leniency?'' Jinell Cutler, the victim's mother, said when it was her turn to speak. "Javon didn't have any leniency.

"He didn't have any interactions with police,'' she said of her son. "He was a good kid.''

Her son was known by the nickname "Puff,'' she said.

"His love for his family, bright ideas, super-cool dance moves and infectious laugh brightened our lives,'' Jinell Cutler said.

"The bond we shared as a family has forever been shattered, leaving us lost and broken,'' she said. 'The pain we carry with us is everlasting - an everlasting reminder of what we have lost.''

Ryan sentenced Jones to 50 years in prison for Cutler's murder, and a consecutive 10 years in prison for attempted murder.

Sullivan received a 40-year term for the murder and a consecutive,10-year term for attempted murder.

Both defendants must serve 85 percent of their terms before they can be considered for release on parole, under the state's No Early Release Act.

Ryan also imposed concurrent sentences on both defendants for weapons offenses.

Kathleen Hopkins, a reporter in New Jersey since 1985, covers crime, court cases, legal issues and just about every major murder trial to hit Monmouth and Ocean counties. Contact her at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Gang members sentenced for killing unintended target in Toms River