Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer announced that on October 2, 2020, Luis Rivas, 17, of Brick Township, was sentenced to four years in New Jersey State Prison as a result of a previously entered guilty plea to Conspiracy to Commit Aggravated Assault.
According to officials, Rivas entered his guilty plea on March 6. Rivas’ guilty plea to Conspiracy to Commit Aggravated Assault was contemplated in connection with his voluntary waiver of the Family Court’s jurisdiction in this matter, and his further agreement to be charged and prosecuted as an adult in Criminal Court.
According to police, on Tuesday, October 22, 2019, at approximately 1:45 p.m., Brick Township Police were summoned to Brick Memorial High School for a report of a student who had sustained a gunshot wound.
Investigation revealed that the student was walking home from school with three friends when he was shot approximately one-quarter mile away from Brick Memorial; he then ran back to the school for help.
As a precaution, Brick Township Police and school officials locked down the high school as well as neighboring schools before determining there was no immediate danger to students.
The victim was treated at Ocean Medical Center in Brick Township and released.
Detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, Brick Township Police Department and Ocean County Sheriff’s Department reviewed video surveillance footage from nearby residences.
The video surveillance depicted Rivas and a second juvenile, Alonzo Legrande, now 18, of Asbury Park, acting together and in support of one another in carrying out the shooting.
Further investigation revealed that Legrande was the individual who actually fired the weapon. Rivas was apprehended on October 26, 2019, and has been lodged in the Ocean County Juvenile Detention Center since his apprehension.
Officials reported that Alonzo Legrande, who also agreed to waive the jurisdiction of the Family Court and be prosecuted as an adult, pled guilty to Aggravated Assault and Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose on September 17.
Legrande has likewise been lodged in the Juvenile Detention Center since being taken into custody on October 23, 2019, where he remains pending his sentencing presently scheduled for November 20.
“As I have previously stated, our law enforcement partners at the local, county, state and federal levels exhibited outstanding teamwork and cooperation with regard to this investigation,” Prosecutor Billhimer said. “I am grateful that as a result of the extraordinary efforts of these brave men and women in law enforcement, Rivas has been made to answer for his flagrant lawlessness with this four-year prison sentence. And soon, Legrande will meet with his fate as well."