Upstate NY pair indicted for robbery, murder of Atlantic City man

A New Jersey grand jury has indicted two New York residents for the murder of an Atlantic City man earlier this year, the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office announced Thursday.

Howard Griswold, 24, of Baldwinsville, and Melissa Tikaram, 28, of Manlius, are accused of robbing and killing Atlantic City resident Christian Hunter, 32, on Jan. 20.

According to prosecutors, officers with the Atlantic City Police Department found Hunter on a sidewalk on North Virginia Avenue suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. The victim was transported to a nearby hospital but was later pronounced dead.

When Hunter was located, his pockets had been turned out and his cellphone was missing, investigators said.

Video surveillance footage recorded the sound of two gunshots, after which a man could be heard saying “Give me that s–t.”

A Nissan Rogue fleeing the scene was also captured on video. The car was registered to Tikaram, prosecutors said.

When friends of the victim called his cellphone after the incident, a man who answered it identified himself as Howard Griswold.

Officials say Griswold was staying as a guest in a room registered to Tikaram at Resorts Hotel & Casino, about a mile away from where Hunter was shot. Authorities later found the fleeing Nissan at the hotel parking lot.

Phone records indicate that Tikaram was in contact with the victim “immediately prior to his being shot,” prosecutors said. Records also indicate an “ongoing relationship between Tikaram and Griswold.”

The two New Yorkers were arrested in Syracuse earlier this year — Tikaram on Jan. 29, and Griswold on Feb. 9. They were then extradited to New Jersey.