Atlantic City Man Charged with Murder in the 2011 Shooting Death of Atlantic City Man

ATLANTIC CITY – An Atlantic City man has been charged and arrested for the fatal shooting of a man found by police dead inside his Atlantic City home in 2011, Acting Atlantic County Prosecutor Jim McClain announced.

A three year-long cooperative investigation by the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit and the Atlantic City Police Department culminated in the arrest yesterday, May 8, 2014, of a 21 year-old Atlantic City man, charged for the shooting death in February 2011 of Bruce Bowers, 48, of the Lighthouse Plaza, 300 Atlantic Avenue, Atlantic City.

Bowers body was discovered by officers of the Atlantic City Police Department at 1:45 p.m. on Feb. 16, 2011, when they were called to Bowers’ apartment for a report of an odor emanating from the dwelling. Atlantic City Police detectives, the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit, and the Atlantic County Medical Examiner were called to the scene. The cause of Bower’s death was a gunshot wound to the chest.

The suspect, whose name is being withheld because he was 17 years old at the time of the shooting, was charged yesterday on juvenile complaints with murder, felony murder, robbery, unlawful possession of a handgun, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. Members of the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit and the Atlantic City Police Department arrested the suspect without incident at the residence of a relative on the 1300 block of Magellan Avenue, Atlantic City.

This morning the suspect appeared before Atlantic County Superior Court Judge Joseph L. Marczyk. Judge Marczyk remanded him to be held without bail in the Atlantic County Justice Facility, and scheduled his next appearance in Superior Court-Family Division on May 12th.

This charge is merely an accusation and not proof of guilt. In all criminal cases, a charged defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Anyone with information involving serious crimes is asked to call the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office at 609-909-7800 or go to the Prosecutor’s Office Web site at http://www.acpo.org/tips.html and provide information by filling out the form anonymously on the Submit a Tip page. People can also 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.