Camden man, 18, held in casino carjacking is charged in two other fatal shootings

A Camden man, 18, held in connection with last month's fatal casino carjacking in Atlantic City was charged Thursday in the shooting deaths in July of two men in Camden.

Raheem Simmons is expected to appear Friday in Superior Court in Camden in connection with the slayings of Antwan Brown and Travon Kinard, both 20, the Camden County Prosecutor's Office said. The Camden residents were each shot in the head sometime before 7:30 p.m. July 26 as they sat in a 1999 Pontiac Grand Prix on the 1100 block of Mechanic Street.

Investigators found a cellphone used by Simmons on which he had texted Phillip Byrd, 20, of Camden, one of two alleged accomplices in the later Atlantic City carjacking, according to court records.

The messages mentioned the Camden shootings, which had not yet occurred, but those were not enough to support charges against Simmons, authorities said.

Police said they recently interviewed a witness who said Simmons admitted committing the Camden homicides.

Jason Laughlin, a spokesman for the Prosecutor's Office, declined to comment on whether Byrd could also be charged in the Camden killings.

Simmons, Byrd, and Eric Darden, 20, of Camden, are held in Atlantic County on charges of murder, carjacking, and other offenses related to the Sept. 18 death at a casino of Sunil Rattu, 28, of Old Bridge, and the wounding of Radha Ghetia, 24, of Sayreville.

Their bail has been set at $1 million each.

Rattu died from two gunshot wounds to the head. Ghetia was shot in her upper body.

The couple had recently received their diplomas as licensed practical nurses and were planning to take their licensing exams. They had gone to Atlantic City to celebrate their graduation, a relative said.

The carjacking was the second fatal abduction at the Trump Taj Mahal since May 2010, when Martin Caballero, 47, a grocer from North Bergen, N.J., was kidnapped in the parking garage.

Caballero's body was found days later in a rural area. He had been beaten and repeatedly stabbed.

The suspects in that case - Craig Arno, 45, of Atlantic City, and Jessica Kisby, 25, of Egg Harbor Township - are awaiting trial.