(Image source from: asianage.com)

An Indian-origin man in New Jersey has been shot dead by a juvenile boy in a suspected robbery and carjacking incident, prosecutors said.

Sunil Edla, 61, was shot to death by the 16-year-old suspect on Thursday evening outside his apartment in Ventnor City, Atlantic County Prosecutor Damon Tyner said in a statement.

Ventnor City Police Department located Edla on the sidewalk, with gunshot wounds after they were informed about the incident on the night of November 15. His missing car,  a 2002 Subaru Forester, was found by Atlantic City Police Officers in a different area. Subsequently, the suspect was tracked with the help of the Atlantic City surveillance center.

The preliminary autopsy found the cause of death to be multiple gunshot wounds and the manner of death homicide.

The juvenile male suspect was arrested on the morning of November 16 and was charged through Juvenile Complaint with murder, robbery, carjacking, unlawful possession of a handgun. He is being detained at the Harborfields Juvenile Detention Center in Egg Harbor City. "I'm just speechless right now They could have just taken the car and let him go," said Morrison Edla, Edla's son in a statement.

According to a report in Press of Atlantic City, Edla, a father of two and grandfather, was a resident of Atlantic County for 30 years and worked in Atlantic City's hospitality industry. He was scheduled to travel to India to visit family.

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"He (Edla) was humble. He never argued. I helped him when he came to the U.S. in 1987. I was very close to him," his cousin Raj Casula said. "Everyone was calling him and talking to him because he was leaving for India so soon."

Edla's family friend Dave Nethagani said, he was kind and active in the community and was best known for playing the piano during church services at Chelsea Community Presbyterian Church in Atlantic City.

A neighbor said the killer trapped Edla and shot him dead right after the grandfather had brought a child into his house. Surveillance video showed the teen riding up to Edla's home. The boy dropped his bike and hid as he waited for Edla to exit the house.

According to relatives, just before 8 p.m. on Thursday, Edla was leaving his home for an overnight shift at the North Carolina Avenue Rodeway Inn in Atlantic City.

Edla started his car then went back into the house for a short time and after walking back down the second-floor apartment stairs, he was shot on the sidewalk and left for dead.

Ventnor police Chief Doug Biagi said an officer has been posted in the neighborhood "just to ease anybody's fears."

-Sowmya