Lloyd Massey

Case details

Lloyd Massey II was convicted of gunning down three Pleasantville men in an ambush shooting on the eastbound lanes of Route 30, just outside of Atlantic City.

He used an AK-47 assault rifle in the roadside killings.

Timeline

• September 8, 2000 — A 21-year-old Pleasantville man was charged with last week's triple murder on the White Horse Pike.
• September 9, 2000 — Police said two men were found dead inside a bullet-riddled four-door Honda Accord in a ditch along the shoulder of the roadway, and a third man was found dead in the roadway about 50 yards from the car.
• September 13, 2000 — A casino security guard was arrested in Georgia and charged with murder in the fatal shooting of three Pleasantville men.
• September 14, 2000 — Lloyd Massey II waived an extradition hearing in Atlanta and would return to face charges.
• September 15, 2000 — Lloyd Massey II returned to New Jersey and would appear in Atlantic County Superior Court for a first-appearance hearing.
• September 16, 2000 — Lloyd Massey II was arraigned and returned to jail on $3 million bond.
• December 8, 2000 — Lloyd Massey II was indicted on three counts of murder, attempted murder, and second- and third-degree weapons offenses, in addition to hindering apprehension and evidence tampering.
• January 10, 2001 — Lloyd Massey II pleaded not guilty in Atlantic County Superior Court.
• June 26, 2002 — A jury considered Lloyd Massey II’s fate after he faced a life term or death for killing three men.
• September 19, 2002 — Lloyd Massey II was sentenced to three life sentences in prison.

Background

Investigators said Lloyd Massey II and the victims were not strangers.

Investigators said Lloyd Massey II had quarreled with one of the victims outside an Egg Harbor bar in the early-morning hours Friday. Massey subsequently followed the victims' car, got ahead of it, and ambushed them at a stoplight.

An attorney representing Lloyd Massey II told a newspaper that he fled to his uncle's Atlanta home because he and his family received numerous death threats.

The offence

Police said three men were shot to death and another was injured in a shooting on the eastbound lanes of Route 30, just west of the resort city, early yesterday morning.

Police said two men were found dead inside a bullet-riddled four-door Honda Accord in a ditch along the shoulder of the roadway, also known as the White Horse Pike, just after 4 a.m.

A third man was found dead in the roadway about 50 yards from the car.

The shooting occurred just west of the Absecon drawbridge, near a remote parking area.

At least 24 shots were fired in the pre-dawn ambush on U.S. 30, about two miles west of the city’s Boardwalk casinos, according to Atlantic County Prosecutor Jeffrey Blitz.

A man with an assault rifle opened fire at a car stopped at a White Horse Pike red light about two miles west of the Boardwalk casinos, according to reports. The shooter killed the driver in the two-lane highway when the driver tried to run away and slew two passengers who couldn't get out of the vehicle.

Investigation

Atlantic County Prosecutor Jeffrey Blitz was cited as stating that at least 24 shots were fired in the pre-dawn ambush.

Arrest and extradition

Lloyd Massey II, 21, was held on $3 million bail in Atlanta.

He was arrested in Georgia and charged with murder in the fatal shooting of three Pleasantville men.

One report stated that his run from justice ended one day after a relative called city police from Georgia to tell them the 21-year-old city casino-hotel security guard was responsible for the shooting deaths.

Trial

Lloyd Massey II returned to New Jersey and appeared in Atlantic County Superior Court during a first-appearance hearing before Superior Court Judge Michael Connor in Mays Landing at an 8:45 a.m. first-appearance hearing, as stated.

He pleaded not guilty.

The indictment charged Lloyd Massey II on three counts of murder, attempted murder, and second- and third-degree weapons offenses, in addition to hindering apprehension and evidence tampering, according to the indictment.

Prosecutors were seeking the death penalty for Lloyd Massey II.

Sentencing

On September 19, 2002, Lloyd Massey II was sentenced to life plus life plus life plus 20 years, according to one report describing the sentencing after the verdict was read.

Superior Court Judge James Isman told the defendant:

"What I am about to sentence you to is one of the longest sentences in Atlantic County and possibly in the history of New Jersey,"

Outcome

Lloyd Massey II was sentenced to three life sentences in prison.

Other details

Lloyd Massey II was described as being 21 at various points, including at the time of arraignment and as the subject of the arrest.

He was described as a casino security guard from Pleasantville and as a casino worker.

Richard "Tyree" White was identified, and Diane White was identified as his mother. Diane White stood along Route 30 at a makeshift memorial.

A court proceeding described that Lloyd Massey II walked in wearing a bulletproof vest and a black-and-white striped jail uniform, with the stripes described as being used for inmates who were security risks.