BY CHRISTINE VARNO
Staff Writer
LONG BRANCH — Two Long Branch men were arrested and charged with the murder of a city man after a six-month investigation, according to police reports.
Bruce D. Beacham, 22, of Bath Avenue, and Rodney C. Jackson Jr., 26, of Long Branch Avenue, were officially charged on Oct. 20 with the murder of Luis Gonzalez, 22, of High Street, who was killed on May 10.
Jackson was previously arrested on July 29 and charged with robbery in connection with the homicide, and Beacham was arrested Sept. 8 and faced the same charges.
Further investigation by the city Police Department Criminal Investigations Bureau and the Major Crime Units of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office resulted in the upgrading of the previous robbery charges to criminal homicide, according to Detective Sgt. Fernando Sanders of the Long Branch Police Department.
Robert A. Honecker Jr., first assistant prosecutor for Monmouth County, said it was determined that Gonzalez died from a gunshot wound to the head on the morning of May 10 in his second-floor apartment on High Street.
At the time of the murder, Honecker said, a home invasion theory was being investigated as the cause of the homicide, but officials have not determined a motive at this time.
Jackson is being held in the Monmouth County jail with bail set at $1 million with no 10 percent option, and Beacham is being held in the Ocean County jail on $1 million bail with no 10 percent option.