A Neptune Township man has been charged with murder as a result of a stabbing incident that took place Sunday morning in the same town, announced Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey.

Derrick Simms, 32, of Neptune, was charged with first-degree Murder, third-degree Unlawful Possession of a Weapon (knife) and third-degree Hindering after fatally stabbing a male victim during an altercation on Sunday morning August 7, 2022.

At approximately 5:44 a.m. on Sunday morning, Neptune Township Police Department officers were dispatched to Squirrel Road for a reported stabbing. Upon arrival, one male victim was discovered in the front yard, unresponsive, with a stab wound. The victim was pronounced deceased on scene.

The investigation is active and ongoing at this time.

Simms is being held at the Monmouth County Correctional Institute (MCCI) pending a detention hearing.

If anyone has any information regarding this case, please contact Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Detective Christopher Guy at 800-533-7443 or Neptune Township Police Officer Robert Hagerman at 732-988-8000.

The case is assigned to Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Matthew Bogner.

Information regarding Simms’s representation was not immediately available.

Despite these charges, every defendant is presumed innocent, unless and until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, following a trial at which the defendant has all of the trial rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and State law.