Deptford police officer charged with murder denied pay while suspended



The Deptford police officer charged with murder has been suspended from the municipal police force without pay, the township mayor confirmed late Tuesday.
James A. Stuart, 29, of Deptford, was initially suspended with pay after the Jan. 5 shooting in which David Compton, 27, of Woodbury was shot in the head at Stuart’s Stanford Avenue home.
Stuart, who called 911 at 5 a.m. the day Compton was shot, was initially charged with two counts of aggravated assault. The charges were upgraded to first-degree murder Friday when Compton was taken off life support and died early Friday morning.
“It has something to do with the charges being changed,” said Deptford Mayor Paul Medany, who said he was made aware of the pay status changes late Tuesday.
John Eastlack, Stuart’s attorney, filed a temporary restraining order Friday to keep the Gloucester County police communications center from releasing the audio recording of the 911 call, which the South Jersey Times has filed a records request to obtain.
Under the Open Public Records Act, the county would be required to respond to the request by today.
However, on Tuesday Superior Court Judge Georgia Curio signed the temporary restraining order. On Friday, Curio is scheduled to hear Eastlack’s request for an order to protect the audio from disclosure under OPRA.