HOMICIDE VICTIMS WERE MOTHER, SON

BARNEGAT (AP) -- Two people who were found shot to death execution style
were identified Thursday as a mother and her troubled 25-year-old son, who
was awaiting trial on drug charges.

But no arrests have been made and authorities would not list a motive for
the slayings. They were not a random act, according to Ocean County
Prosecutor E. David Millard.

The bodies of Christine Staton, 54, and Lonell T. Michael, 25, were found
in Staton's home about 11 a.m. Wednesday.

They were bound together, their hands and feet tied. Both had been shot in
the head, according to Millard.

The house had been ransacked, apparently by the same people who killed
them, Millard said. "Things were pulled apart, drawers had been gone
through throughout most of the house," he said.

No weapon was found.

Michael, an accused cocaine dealer from Manahawkin, was to go on trial in
December on charges of conspiracy to possess a controlled dangerous
substance with intent to distribute.