Police search for gunman after double homicide in Millville shooting

Ashley Brown and Andy Steven Brazil, both 32, were fatally shot outside a North High Street convenience store and gas station early Sunday.

Authorities are searching for the person responsible for an early-morning shooting that killed a Millville woman and a Vineland man outside a 24-hour convenience store and gas station, leaving two families grieving and investigators looking for witnesses and surveillance footage that could help solve the double homicide.

Ashley Brown, 32, of Millville, and Andy Steven Brazil, 32, of Vineland, were fatally shot shortly before 4 a.m. Sunday in the 800 block of North High Street, according to the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office.

Millville police were dispatched to the area of 815 N. High St. at about 3:40 a.m. Aug. 16 after receiving a report of gunfire. Officers found Brown and Brazil suffering from gunshot wounds. Both died from their injuries, authorities said.

As of Monday night, authorities had announced no arrests and publicly identified no suspect or motive. Police were continuing to search for the person responsible.

The killings are being investigated jointly by the Millville Police Department and the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit.

Victims reportedly shot inside vehicle

Brown’s relatives told WPVI-TV that Brown and Brazil were inside a vehicle when the gunfire erupted and that Brown was sitting in the driver’s seat. Authorities have not publicly provided details about what preceded the shooting or whether the victims were specifically targeted.

The shooting occurred outside a convenience store and gas station on North High Street. By Monday, balloons and candles had been placed outside the business as a memorial to Brown and Brazil, while friends and relatives gathered to mourn them.

The location could provide investigators with potentially important evidence. Multiple businesses in the area have surveillance cameras, according to WPVI, although authorities have not said whether investigators obtained video showing the shooting, a suspect or a vehicle connected to the killings.

Friends remember Brown

The deaths stunned people who knew the victims, particularly friends of Brown who rushed to the scene after learning she had been killed.

“They said Ashley got killed. I said, ‘What do you mean Ashley?'” Shakiera Nichols, a close friend of Brown, told WPVI. “I dropped my phone, dropped everything and came down here.”

Brown was also remembered for her personality and kindness. Her 7-year-old godson, Jahyon Thomas, described her simply as “fun and very nice.”

The killings left people in the community calling for the shooter to be found.

Jah’Zhyrah Money of Millville told WPVI that she had known both victims for years and was devastated by their deaths.

“Those were people I knew for a long time and people that I actually liked,” Money said. “I feel so bad for her and him.”

Investigation continues

Authorities have released few details about the circumstances surrounding the shooting, including whether Brown and Brazil were together before arriving at the North High Street business, whether anyone else was present when the gunfire began or how many shots were fired.

Investigators also have not publicly disclosed whether they have recovered a weapon, identified a person of interest or determined what type of firearm was used.

The absence of an announced arrest means the investigation remains active, and authorities are asking anyone who saw or heard anything unusual around North High Street early Sunday to come forward.

Detective Emilio Santiago of the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office can be reached at 856-506-4093. Information also may be submitted anonymously through the prosecutor’s office online tip system.

Authorities have not indicated that there is an ongoing threat to the general public, but they also have not publicly identified the person responsible for killing Brown and Brazil.

The deaths leave investigators trying to reconstruct what happened during a few violent moments before dawn Sunday — and two families waiting for answers about why Brown and Brazil were killed and who pulled the trigger.