Lacey, NJ man charged in third case of patricide at Jersey Shore over the past month

For the third time in the last month a man who resides in Monmouth or Ocean County has been arrested and charged with committing the heinous act of patricide.

The latest case involving a Lacey man murdering his father was announced by Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer and Lacey Township Police Chief Michael DiBella in a joint statement.

Lacey Police responded to a home on Weekhawken Avenue on Wednesday afternoon, around 4:35 pm, after getting a call about a concerned family member who was trying "to perform a wellness check on his father, David Donaldson, and his brother, Justin Donaldson."

Police said that Justin wouldn't let his own brother into the house so his brother called 9-1-1 and that's when officers responded.

Upon arrival, Lacey Police entered the home and found the deceased body of David Donaldson "with apparent trauma to his face."

The on-scene investigation continued by Lacey Police along with the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office Major Crimes Unit, and the Ocean County Sheriff's Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit who collectively concluded that Justin killed his father.

He was then arrested and brought to the Ocean County Jail, where he remains, pending a detention hearing.

Justin Donaldson, 36, of Lacey Township, is charged with Murder.

The case of Justin Donaldson allegedly murdering David Donaldson is the third such case of a son murdering his father over the last month at the Jersey Shore.

In the week of August 23, a Matawan man was arrested and charged for murdering his father.

The death of 58-year-old Kenneth Knapp Sr. was ruled a homicide after he suffered blunt force trauma at the hands of his son Kenneth Knapp Jr. in the basement of his home on Matawan Avenue on May 1.

As the investigation continued, Knapp Jr. was later arrested in Montgomery Township and charged by the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office with Murder and Desecration of Human Remains.

There was another case of patricide in Monmouth County in Hazlet Township a week prior to the arrest of Kenneth Knapp Jr. by Ernest Kotey who killed his father Nikoi.

In this case, Monmouth County Prosecutor's learned that Ernest Kotey broke into his father's home on Middle Road in the middle of the night, confronted and then physically attacked his father leading to his death.

He then tried to choke his Aunt to death, but she was able to escape and leave the residence.