FREEHOLD – A Long Branch man was charged Thursday with murdering another city man on Liberty Street in September, according to the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office.

Dante Strong, 18, allegedly gunned down Adrian Anderson, 23, on his front porch on Sept. 21, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni said in a release.

Long Branch police heard gunshots at around 2:30 a.m. on Sept. 21 and were flagged down by people on Liberty Street, Gramiccioni said. Anderson was found on his front porch, unconscious and bleeding from several gunshot wounds, Gramiccioni said.

He was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune and was pronounced dead at 5:22 a.m., Gramiccioni said.

After the killing, family and neighbors remembered Anderson as a "nice kid" and said he was a hard worker. Anderson lived at the home where he was shot and had two children, according to a cousin who did not wish to give her name.

“He was a good guy, he loved his two kids, worked hard and bothered nobody,” the cousin said.

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During a joint investigation between Long Branch police and the prosecutor’s office, Strong was linked to an armed robbery the morning before the shooting that occured less than a block from the killing, Gramiccioni said. He was arrested on Oct. 2 for the Sept. 20 robbery and charged with two counts of armed robbery, possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a firearm.

While incarcerated on $600,000 bail, the homicide investigation continued and ultimately Strong was charged in Anderson’s murder, Gramiccioni said.

Strong was charged with first-degree murder, unlawful possession of a weapon. An additional $850,000 cash only bail was added and Strong remains held at the Monmouth County Correctional Institution in Freehold.

Authorities are asking anyone with information on the investigation to call Long Branch police Det. Todd Coleman at 732-222-1000 or prosecutor’s office Det. Andrea Tozzi at 1-800-533-7443.