A Bayville 26-year-old faces a murder charge in connection with a June 8 fatal shooting in South Toms River, and a second defendant is accused of throwing police off the trail.

Marcus Neel Samuels
Marcus Neel Samuels (Ocean County Prosecutor's Office)
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Marcus Samuels turned himself in Friday at the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office, along with attorney Terrence Turnbach. Information from County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato indicates that Samuels was aware of the warrant for his arrest.

Samuels also faces charges of possession of a firearm, possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Willie Z. Love III, 27, also of Bayville, died at Community Medical Center in Toms River on June 8 at about 11:27 PM, just about a half-hour after police responded to a report of a shooting in South Toms River.

County and local investigators allege that Samuels pumped a single shot into the car Love was driving on Dover Road near the Garden State Parkway. Ocean County Medical Examiner Ian Hood determined that the bullet penetrated Love's shoulder and chest, and ruled the manner of death a homicide.

In the course of the probe, investigators concluded that Jennifer Rauscher, 21, of Bayville, purposely fed false information to detectives. She is charged with hindering apprehension, authorities said.

On Friday, June 12, about the time that a memorial service for Love was under way, Judge James Blaney authorized the two arrest warrants on evidence presented by South Toms River Police Detective Tim Meier and Ocean County Detective John Carroll, authorities said.

Samuels was processed and placed in the Ocean County Jail in Toms River, with bail set at $1 million.

Rauscher was apprehended Friday at about 12:30 PM at her parents' house in Bayville. She was processed in South Toms River and released on $100,000 full bail.

Authorities did not disclose the nature of Samuels's previous conviction.

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