NJ man wanted for murder, has violent history back to age 15

Authorities are searching for a Jersey City man with a long criminal past in the murder of a convenience store owner.

According to a report by the Jersey Journal, DeAndre Thomas, 23, of Martin Luther King Drive in Jersey City, has been charged with murder in the Nov. 15 shooting at Los Yoleros Mini Market Deli, which killed 23-year-old Davonte Carswell. He remains at large.

The report says Thomas has a criminal history going back to age 16, and quotes Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Leo Hernandez saying Thomas had been released from prison on April 30 after serving 18 months for two counts of aggravated assault.

According to another report by the Jersey Journal, the North Jersey chapter of the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network at a vigil Tuesday night, demanded Los Yoleros Mini Market Deli be closed. Police have also said the bodega had been operating a gambling operation, according to the paper. New owners have taken over the storefront

State Department of Corrections records show Thomas had first been incarcerated in 2009 for aggravated assault charges from a March 28, 2008 incident. At age 15, ge'd been charged as an adult with both aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury and aggravated assault while knowingly pointing a firearm. He was released in 2012.

Then, he was incarcerated again in late 2013 — sentenced on two occasions in December of that year, just a week apart. The first was for another charge of aggravated assault while knowingly pointing a firearm.The second was for another aggravated assault charge.

Thomas is a black male with black hair and brown eyes, standing 5 feet and 9 inches tall and weighing 132 pounds, according to state prison records.