7 years later, NJ cops need help to solve Monmouth County homicide

🔍 Investigators are looking for new leads in a 2016 homicide

🔍 The 19-year-old victim was a "loving son and brother"

🔍 A $5,000 reward is being offered for information

NEPTUNE TOWNSHIP — The killing of a Bradley Beach man just weeks away from his 20th birthday remains unsolved more than seven years later and investigators are looking for new leads.

The fatal shooting of 19-year-old Andre Thorne took place in Neptune Township on Monday, Feb. 8, 2016.

Thorne was sitting in the driver's seat of a 2002 red Dodge Neon outside a home on the 1300 block of Seventh Avenue with two other people in the car around 8:18 p.m., according to the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office.

Suddenly, a bullet went through the window and into Thorne's chest. He was taken to the hospital where he was declared dead.

Authorities are investigating the fatal shooting as a murder.

“Despite the passage of over seven years since the murder of Andre Thorne, detectives from my Office and the Neptune Police Department refuse to let the case grow cold. It is our sincere hope that those efforts motivate individuals in our community to come forward with any information that they may possess," Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago said.

Reward offered in Andre Thorne murder case

In November 2017, investigators began offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to a conviction in the killing of Thorne.

That reward is still up for grabs through the Monmouth County Crime Stoppers, according to MCPO spokesman Chris Swendeman.

Anyone who wants to provide information that could help the investigation should contact MCPO Det. Sgt. Keith Finkelstein at (732) 431-7160, ext. 3019 or Neptune Township police Det. Carrie Bartlett at (732) 988-8000.

Tipsters who feel the need to stay anonymous should contact the Monmouth County Crime Stoppers confidential line at 1-800-671-4400.

"Kind hearted, adventurous, a gentleman"

When he died, Thorne left behind his parents, three sisters, two brothers, his grandparents, and extended family, according to his obituary.

Thorne was born in 1995 at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch and lived most of his life in Bradley Beach. He graduated from Neptune Township in 2013.

"Daring, kind hearted, adventurous, a gentleman, crazy, outgoing and a loving son and brother; these are only a few words to describe Andre. He had a smile that would brighten up anyone's day," his obituary read.

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