No criminal charges for Deptford police officer who shot and killed South Jersey man last year

A Deptford police officer who shot and killed a man last year will not be criminally charged in connection with the incident, after a state grand jury review.

The January 2023 shooting, in which Officer Luke Ivey fatally shot Daniel Nevius Sr., 55, of Sicklerville, occurred after the Deptford Township Police Department responded to a 911 call on Fox Run Road in Deptford. The caller said that Nevius was pointing a rifle at civilians and acting erratically, according to investigators.

Shortly after arriving at the scene, Ivey fired a single shot from his service weapon, striking Nevius, the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office said. Responding officers said Nevius pointed his own weapon at police.

Nevius was pronounced dead at the scene about a half hour after Ivey, a six-year veteran of the department, shot him.

Under N.J. law, the attorney general’s office is required to investigate any death that occurs during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer’s official capacity. The investigation included witness interviews, photographs, body-camera footage, and autopsy results, the attorney general’s office said.

The state grand jury, which consisted of NJ. residents, concluded deliberations in Ivey’s case on March 4. The jury voted “no bill,” indicating that no criminal charges should be filed against him, the attorney general’s office said.

Nevius’ death was one of multiple fatal shootings involving Deptford police officers in recent years.

In 2018, Officer Kevin Clements fatally shot LaShonda Anderson and was cleared by a grand jury later that year. Anderson’s family filed a federal wrongful-death lawsuit in 2020, and that case remains pending.

Last March, Officer Robert Shisler shot and killed Mitchell Negron Jr. during a foot chase. During the incident, Negron, who was pronounced dead at the scene, shot Shisler in the leg. After being hospitalized, Shisler died from his wounds last May. That incident was not presented to a grand jury because both people involved died, authorities said.