A birthday party on Dogwood Road in Edgewater Park, New Jersey, ended in a double homicide in the early hours of Sunday, January 24, 2021. Guests had gathered to celebrate Donte Benns’ 29th birthday when gunfire erupted at about 1 a.m. Bullets came through the home’s walls and door; Marcus Thompson, 29, of Willingboro, was struck in the kitchen and died at the scene after his friend Donte Benns tried to help him. A second victim, 29-year-old James A. Gist III of Westampton, was found fatally shot in a car parked outside the residence.

Investigators from the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office and the Edgewater Park Township Police Department reported numerous shell casings outside, concluding the shots were fired from outside the home. About ten people had been at the party but only Thompson and Gist were hit. No arrests were announced in the immediate aftermath, and the motive was described as unclear.

If anyone attending that gathering or living nearby that night saw suspicious activity or has information about who fired into the house, please come forward.