MAYS LANDING, NJ – On Thursday, August 6, 2026, Trumaine Clements, 19, from Atlantic City,
NJ, was sentenced by the Honorable Joseph Levin, J.S.C., to 20 years in New Jersey State Prison
subject to an 85% period of parole ineligibility pursuant to the No Early Release Act.
On August 16, 2023, at about 10:40 p.m., Atlantic City Police Department officers and Atlantic
County Prosecutor’s Office detectives responded to the Carver Hall Apartments in response to a
stabbing. Officers and paramedics attempted life-saving efforts for the juvenile victim, who
suffered a stab wound to the torso. The victim was pronounced deceased in the early morning
hours of the following day.
The Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office’s Major Crimes Unit led the investigation, in which
surveillance footage showed Clements exit his apartment at the Carver Hall Apartments to meet
the victim at the adjacent apartment building and stab the victim in the torso. The surveillance
footage showed Clements fleeing the area and returning to his apartment after the stabbing.
Police arrived at the scene within minutes and were able to apprehend Clements at his apartment.
Clements still had the knife in his pocket that he used to stab the victim.
Clements, a juvenile at the time of arrest, was detained at the Atlantic County Juvenile Detention
Center in Egg Harbor City, where on March 8, 2025, he purposely broke the secured door to his
room by kicking it multiple times, resulting in a criminal mischief charge. On March 19, 2025
Clements received an additional charge while at Atlantic County Juvenile Detention Center for
threatening to shoot a youth worker in the face.
On March 31, 2026, Clements pleaded guilty first-degree aggravated manslaughter, third-degree
terroristic threats, and fourth-degree criminal mischief.
Assistant Prosecutor Brooke Melissa Hoffner represented the State in this matter.
