Atlantic County Prosecutor: 2 Indicted For Atlantic City Murd

The Atlantic County, New Jersey Prosecutor’s Office has confirmed that two New York residents have been indicted by an Atlantic County Grand Jury today for the murder of an Atlantic City man.

Howard Griswold, 24, of Baldwinsville, New York and Melissa Tikarem, 28, of Manlius, New York have been indicted for murder and accompanying charges for the January 20, 2024 death of Christian Hunter, 32, from Atlantic City, New Jersey.

About the charges, The Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office said:

On January 20, 2024, at approximately 7:19 p.m., the Atlantic City Police Department received a ShotSpotter alert for multiple gunshots in the area of 119 N. Virginia Avenue. Officers arrived at the scene and located Hunter unresponsive on the sidewalk with multiple gunshot wounds. He was transported to the AtlantiCare Medical Center, City Division, where he was pronounced deceased. A subsequent autopsy procedure performed by the New Jersey South Regional Medical Examiner's Office determined the cause of death was a gunshot wound and the manner of death was determined to be homicide, said the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office.

This investigation was conducted by the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office's Major Crimes Unit and the Atlantic City Police Department's Violent Crimes Unit.

Here are the two murder suspects:

Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office photo.

The Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office always reminds the public that the existence of “charges are merely an accusation and not proof of guilt. In all criminal cases, a charged defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven.”

Anyone with information about this incident or other serious crimes … you can call the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office Major Crime Unit at (609) 909-7666 or go to the Prosecutor's Office Website at ACPO.Tips and provide information by filling out the form anonymously on the Submit a Tip page.

For those who do not want to go through law-enforcement directly, you can call Crime Stoppers at (609) 652-1234 or 1-800-658-8477 (TIPS) or visit the Crime Stoppers Website at http://www.crimestoppersatlantic.com/. Crime Stoppers offers cash rewards for information leading to the arrest and indictment of those who commit crimes in Atlantic County.

SOURCES: Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office.