Three boys jailed in homeless man's death
A fourth is being sought. Police say the S. Jersey teens punched, kicked and beat the man, who had been sleeping on a Camden bench.
Three South Jersey teenagers were arrested yesterday on charges they beat a homeless man to death last month as he slept on a Camden park bench, authorities said. A fourth was being sought.
The teens - all boys age 15 to 17 - were jailed in the Camden County Youth Detention Center on murder charges, pending a juvenile court hearing on Monday.
One of the teens, a 17-year-old, was arrested at 7:30 a.m. as he arrived for classes at Pennsauken High School. A 15-year-old, who also attends Pennsauken High, was arrested at the same time at his home.
Another 15-year-old, a student at East Camden Middle School, was arrested later in Camden at the Cramer Hill Apartments. Police are searching for the fourth teen, said Jason Laughlin, spokesman for the Camden County Prosecutor's Office.
The teens attacked John Anthony Smith, 54, as he slumbered on a park bench in the 3900 block of Federal Street in Camden on Aug. 30, Laughlin said. They punched, kicked and beat the man with a stick, he said.
Smith languished in Cooper University Hospital for 18 days before he died of his injuries. Authorities have been unable to locate any family members for the man, who also went by the name John Lester.
Authorities asked that anyone with information about the victim or the crime contact prosecutor's investigator Lance Saunders at 856-225-8400 or Camden Police Detective Wayne Matthews at 856-757-7420.