Town hall meeting in West Orange over murder of college student

WEST ORANGE, N.J. (WABC) -- A town hall meeting was held in New Jersey Wednesday night, to address the police response to the murder of a college student.

Dozens of residents attended the meeting in City Council chambers in West Orange.

Livingston college student Brendan Tevlin was shot and killed in June.

The murder sent shock waves through the normally quiet town, and left many residents questioning their safety and police protocol.

A month after the murder, a transient, Ali Muhammad Brown, was arrested.

Investigators say he randomly targeted Tevlin as retribution for lives lost in U.S. military action overseas.

Tevlin, a University of Richmond sophomore, was driving through West Orange on his way home to Livingston when the three men, following him in another car, jumped out and surrounded him, Essex County District Attorney Carolyn Murray said.

Brown shot Tevlin through the passenger-side window, hitting him 10 times, Murray said. Tevlin's car was then driven to an apartment complex in West Orange with Tevlin inside, and some of his personal belongings were stolen.

Brown was wanted by police in Seattle in the shooting deaths of two young men shortly after they left a gay nightclub on June 1. He also was wanted on warrants for failure to register as a sex offender, according to newspaper reports.

Murray said U.S. marshals and New Jersey state police picked up Brown's trail after an alleged robbery and attempted carjacking in Point Pleasant on June 29, four days after Tevlin was killed. The prosecutor's office disseminated a photo of Brown to news media three weeks ago. Authorities believe Brown had previous ties to New Jersey and to his alleged accomplices.