‘He Didn’t Deserve This;’ Murdered Man Remembered On His Birthday

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The township man who police say died May 25 after he was shot and crashed his car into a Foxwood Drive home was killed three days before his birthday.

Dominic Frederick, 25, a Winston Road resident, was shot in the Petty Street area – near The Park at Franklin (former Franklin Greens) apartments – sometime around 11 p.m. before driving his car – which contained several passengers – into the home, according to the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.

Franklin Township Police officers responding to the calls about the crash found Frederick unconscious behind the wheel, according to an SCPO press release. They then discovered that he had been shot, shortly after which he was pronounced dead, the release said.

An autopsy performed by the Northern Regional Medical Examiner’s Office has determined that Frederick’s death was a homicide, according to the SCPO release.

The car’s passengers were not hurt, and no one else was shot, the release said. SCPO spokeswoman Det. Jeanne Trillhaase said investigators are still looking for a motive.

Regardless of the motive, Frederick “didn’t deserve this,” said Tatiana Jaquez, one of his friends.

Jaquez was at the corner of Petty Road and Foxwood Drive on May 28, where she had just added some “Happy Birthday” balloons to more than three dozen candles and two small bouquets of flowers comprising a makeshift memorial on the sidewalk.

May 28 would have been Frederick’s 26th birthday, she said.

“I have a lot of great memories with him,” she said. “He was a nice guy, he didn’t deserve this.”

Jaquez said she was introduced to Frederick in 2012 by a mutual friend.

“Ever since then, he was always so friendly,” she said. “He would always come to every event, any parties or anything, he was always there.”

“He was just a great guy all around,” she said. “He was the life of the party.

“Any time he came around he was all smiles and laughs,” Jaquez said. “He always showed you love. Even if he didn’t know who you were, he always showed you love. I don’t think anyone had anything negative they could say about him, I could tell you that.”

“Whatever happened, I feel like it wasn’t meant for him,” she said. “He wasn’t involved in anything. He was never that street kind of guy, he just always tried to help everybody out, anytime anybody called him, he would come.”

The identities of the other passengers in the car were being withheld “since the investigation is active and ongoing,” Trillhaase said.

Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to contact the Somerset County Prosecutors Office Major Crimes Unit at (908) 231-7100 or the Franklin Township Police Department at (732) 873-5533 or via the STOPit app. The STOPit app allows citizens to provide anonymous reports including videos and photos. STOPit can be downloaded to your smart phone for free at the Google Play Store or Apple App Store, access code: SOMERSETNJ. Information can also be provided through the Somerset County Crime Stoppers’ Tip Line at 1-888-577-TIPS (8477) or at www.scpo.net and click on either “Crime Stoppers” or “TIPS HOTLINE”. All anonymous Crime Stopper tips will be kept confidential.

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