Major Nathaniel Hamilton III was 45 when he was killed outside the Diamond Dogz social club (also known as the 609 Elite Social Club) on the first block of John F. Kennedy Way in Willingboro on the evening of May 21, 2024. Known to family as steady, faithful, and devoted, he had worked in masonry and as a saw operator, lived with his longtime fiancée of about seventeen years, and helped raise four children and two grandchildren. That night he told his partner he was stepping out briefly to celebrate a friend’s birthday and was struck by gunfire after a dark-colored vehicle drove slowly past the club twice and someone inside opened fire. He was taken to Virtua Willingboro Hospital and pronounced dead at about 10:30 p.m.

Investigators reviewed surveillance footage and witness accounts about the vehicle and appealed for tips. Officials later said the occupants of the car had targeted another man at the club and that Hamilton was not the intended victim. Three men were charged in April 2025; the defendants are presumed innocent as proceedings continue.