Howell Resident Indicted in 2010 Stabbing Death

Howell resident Julius K. Garrett, 24, was indicted on Monday on charges including first-degree murder, third-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and fourth-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, according to a press release from the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office.

The charges stem from the stabbing death of Howell resident Scott Gregory on June 20, 2010. Gregory was 24 at the time.

Howell Township police responded to a 911 call at 4:06 a.m. last June 20 that reported a man laying unconscious on Fort Plains Road, according to the prosecutor's office. When police arrived the man "appeared lifeless," and was unable to be revived when the Howell Township First Aid Squad arrived on the scene.

The next day Garrett turned himself into the police with bail set at $1,000,000 by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Thomas F. Scully. 

Both the prosecutor's office and Howell police investigated the death. The probe revealed that Gregory and Garrett were friends and were walking to a party from Gregory's residence. After the two had an altercation, the party was broken up with both reportedly sustaining minor head injuries, police said.

While Gregory reportedly walked home, Garrett got a ride to his brother's Shures Acres house from three girls at the party. The press release from the prosecutor's office said he was staying at his brother's at the time. 

According to the investigation, Garrett arrived at his brother's house and left shortly after with the same girls and was joined by his brother. They drove down Fort Plains Road when they came across Gregory and a friend he was walking with and asked that the car pull over. 

As Garrett approached Gregory, Gregory's friend reportedly ran into the woods nearby. With the friend gone, the two men began fighting again despite Garrett's brother's effort to split them up, police said. Garrett then reportedly stabbed Gregory once in the chest and once in the back before leaving, the prosecutor's office said.

An autopsy by the Middlesex County Medical Examiner's Office performed ruled that Gregory died from the wound to the chest.

If convicted of the first-degree murder charge, Garrett faces a sentence of life in prison with a mandatory 30 years without parole. The third-degree possession of a weapon charge carries a maximum term of five years in state prison, while the fourth-degree weapon's charge carries up to 18 months in the county prison.

Garrett will be arraigned in the next 45 days and remains held in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution in lieu of bail, according to the prosecutor's office.

The case has been assigned to Assistant Prosecutors Danielle Zanzuccki and Gregory J. Schweers. Garrett is being represented by Freehold attorney Regina Sauter.