911 tape reveals chilling moments after N.J. detective was shot in home invasion

The call alerting police that something was wrong on a peaceful Tuesday night along a stretch of Buckshutem Road in Cumberland County came from a neighbor around 10:30 p.m.

The door to a house belonging to Detective Sgt. Monica Mosley had been smashed, the neighbor told a 911 operator.

“Her door is open, it’s busted and I’m trying to reach out to her and she’s not picking up,” the caller said. “But the door is busted open. Can you send a patrol car out here?

The caller reported hearing a loud banging noise and seeing three people running from Mosley’s residence in the modest, well-maintained neighborhood on the outskirts of Bridgeton on Oct. 15. They were headed toward the rear of a nearby trailer park, according to recording of a 911 call obtained in response to an Open Public Records Act request filed by NJ Advance Media.

The dispatcher said officers were on their way, according to the recording.

What those officers didn’t know yet was Mosley, a veteran law enforcement officer with the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office, had just traded gunfire with the intruders who forced their way into her home.

She fired three rounds from her service weapon, hitting one of her attackers, before she was shot three times, authorities said. One round was fired at close range to the back of her head.

She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Five people are charged in the case. They are all scheduled to appear in court Tuesday for pre-indictment conferences.

It’s a chance for the prosecution and defense to resolve the case before it goes to a grand jury for consideration of an indictment. If the prosecution makes a plea offer, the defense can either accept or reject it.

Nyshawn B. Mutcherson, 29, of Vineland, Jarred D. Brown, 31, of Bridgeton, Richard B. Hawkins Willis, 32, of Gloucester City, and Byron L. Thomas, 35, of Paulsboro, are each charged with first-degree counts of murder and murder during the commission of a burglary, second-degree burglary, multiple weapons offenses, hindering and obstruction in connection with Mosley’s death.

They face potential life sentences if convicted.

Cyndia E. Pimentel, 38, of Paulsboro, is accused of helping cover up evidence of the killing. She’s charged with third-degree hindering an investigation, and fourth-degree counts of obstruction and tampering with evidence.

Friends, family and the law enforcement community were shaken by the killing of Mosley, a beloved mother and grandmother who was remembered at her funeral as a “mama bear” to her colleagues.

“Sergeant Mosley was a constant friend and role model for all those with whom she served and led in the law enforcement community throughout Cumberland County and beyond,” Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae said in a statement following her death. “She will be missed more than words can detail, but she will never be forgotten by her CCPO family.”

A Bridgeton native, Mosley built a career at the prosecutor’s office over 18 years, first as a paralegal specialist before becoming a detective in 2009. After working in various departments within the office, she was named supervisor with the internal affairs unit in September 2023, overseeing investigations involving law enforcement officers in the county.

She was working on two investigations at the time of her death, Webb-McRae noted when she spoke at Mosley’s funeral.

While authorities haven’t officially stated whether the killing was related to Mosley’s job, multiple officials familiar with the case say investigators have found no apparent link between the crime and her work with the prosecutor’s office.

During a November hearing, an attorney for Pimentel objected to the prosecution’s repeated use of Mosley’s detective sergeant rank, arguing that there was no evidence linking her employment to the killing.

In statements made in court, prosecutors haven’t described any sort of motive in the case or linked her death to her work in the prosecutor’s office.

They have outlined a detailed narrative of the alleged killers’ actions leading up to and following the shooting, complete with cellphone data, surveillance video, license plate reader reports, DNA and witness accounts.

In a November hearing, the prosecution presented an alleged minute-by-minute account of the crime, beginning three hours before the killing and 30 miles from Mosley’s doorstep.

Hawkins Willis was dating Pimentel and drove her SUV from her Paulsboro residence in Gloucester County around 7 p.m., picking up Thomas, Brown and Mutcherson along the way, according to Cape May County First Assistant Prosecutor Saverio Carroccia, whose office is handling the case because the victim worked for the prosecutor’s office in Cumberland County.

At 9:23 p.m., the vehicle was spotted in Bridgeton as it pulled up to a South Avenue residence linked to Brown.

From there, the men allegedly traveled to Buckshutem Road, where video surveillance from the trailer park near Mosley’s house picked up the SUV just before 10 p.m., Carroccia said.

Mosley was getting ready for bed shortly after 10 p.m. when masked men kicked in the front door, prosecutors said.

“They essentially shattered the bottom part of the door,” Carroccia said in November. The top part of the door was still dead-bolted.

As the intruders came into the home, Mosley, 51, was able to fire three shots, striking Mutcherson, according to Carroccia.

Mosley was shot in her right knee, then likely fell to the floor and put up her hand when the second shot struck her left wrist and traveled through her arm, Carroccia said.

The third shot was fired into the back of her head at a downward trajectory, prosecutors said.

“Judge, I don’t use this term lightly, but that’s called an execution,” Carroccia said in court.

The prosecutor didn’t identify the shooter, but said the murder weapon has not been recovered.

A bullet that struck Mutcherson was found in the grass at Mosley’s home and contained his DNA, the prosecutor said. Mosley’s blood was also allegedly found on one of Mutcherson’s sneakers.

Video surveillance from multiple locations shows the SUV leaving the area, stopping at a medical facility in Bridgeton where Mutcherson was dropped off for treatment, and returning to the South Avenue address, Carroccia said.

While Mutcherson initially told investigators he was shot in Millville, they determined that was a lie, according to court documents.

The prosecution also outlined alleged efforts to hide evidence.

On Oct. 18, Pimentel and Hawkins Willis allegedly drove to an address associated with Hawkins Willis in Gloucester City, Carroccia said.

A search warrant for that property turned up multiple latex gloves and a size-6 boot with blood on it, according to the prosecutor. Investigators also allegedly found two floor mats, pieces of seatbelt and a car part from Pimentel’s vehicle in a driveway dumpster.

DNA testing of that evidence was pending, Carroccia said in November. No further updates on the evidence have been presented during court hearings.

Later on Oct. 18, Pimentel allegedly drove her SUV to Philadelphia with Hawkins Willis as a passenger and left the vehicle in a parking garage.

The murder defendants remain locked up pending trial, while Pimentel is on pre-trial release. Three of the defendants are held in county jails and Mutcherson is in state prison for a parole violation, records show.

Mutcherson served time for aggravated assault on a domestic violence victim and obstruction in a Cumberland County case and was released from prison last summer with parole supervision, according to court records.

The other murder defendants also have criminal records.

Thomas was released from prison last September, about six weeks before Mosley was killed, after serving time on drug distribution and gun charges in Camden County.

Brown’s criminal background includes convictions for gun possession, endangering the welfare of a child by sexual conduct, endangering the welfare of a child by non-sexual conduct, forgery, hindering apprehension and obstruction, and he was on probation at the time of his arrest in the Mosley case, a judge said in December.

At the time of his arrest, Hawkins Willis had five pending charges in a domestic violence case, for simple assault, criminal trespass, criminal mischief, theft and hindering apprehension, the judge said.

Pimentel has no prior criminal record. She previously worked as a police officer and was employed by the Camden County Police Department from 2013 to 2015 before she resigned.

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Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com.