Howard Griswold, 24, of Baldwinsville, NY, and Melissa Tikarem,
28, of Manlius, NY were taken into custody in the Syracuse, NY area by detectives from
the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office’s Major Crimes Unit with assistance from the
Syracuse Police Department and the Syracuse FBI Field Office for the January 20,
2024 death of Christian Hunter, 32, from Atlantic City, NJ. Tikarem was arrested on
January 29, 2024, and Griswold was arrested on February 9, 2024. Both Griswold and
Tikarem were charged with Murder and Robbery.
On January 20, 2024, at approximately 7:19 p.m., the Atlantic City Police Department
received a ShotSpotter alert for multiple gunshots in the area of 119 N. Virginia Avenue.
Officers arrived at the scene and located Hunter unresponsive on the sidewalk with
multiple gunshot wounds. He was transported to the AtlantiCare Medical Center, City
Division, where he was pronounced deceased. A subsequent autopsy procedure
performed by the New Jersey South Regional Medical Examiner’s Office determined the
cause of death was a gunshot wound and the manner of death was determined to be
homicide.
This investigation was conducted by the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office’s Major
Crimes Unit and the Atlantic City Police Department’s Violent Crimes Unit.
Both Griswold and Tikarem are awaiting extradition to Atlantic County.
These charges are merely an accusation and not proof of guilt. In all criminal cases, a charged defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Anyone with information about this incident or other serious crimes are asked to call the
Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit at 609-909-7666 or go to the
Prosecutor’s Office Website at ACPO.Tips and provide information by filling out the form
anonymously on the Submit a Tip page.
People can also call Crime Stoppers at 609-652-1234 or 1-800-658-8477 (TIPS) or visit
the Crime Stoppers Website at http://www.crimestoppersatlantic.com/. Crime Stoppers
offers cash rewards for information leading to the arrest and indictment of those who
commit crimes in Atlantic County.
Coast News Today
by Regional Media Inc
