Prosecutors: Victims in fatal shooting not intended targets

ASBURY PARK, N.J. – Authorities say a gunman who fatally shot a 10-year-old boy and wounded his mother at their New Jersey home was trying to hit someone else when he opened fire.

But officials haven’t disclosed a motive for Wednesday night’s shooting in Asbury Park.

Police arrested a 16-year-old Neptune Township boy Thursday and charged him with numerous offences, including murder and aggravated assault. They believe he was an accomplice of the shooter, who hasn’t been located.

Monmouth County prosecutors say the shooter’s intended target was a man who lived in the same home as the victims, 10-year-old Yovanni Banos-Merino and his mother, 38-year-old Lilia Merino.

Yovanni died shortly after the shooting; Merino was treated at a hospital for undisclosed injuries.

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This story has been corrected to show Lilia Merino is 38 years old, not 39.