Man says he missed son's birth after false arrest in murder of 'go-go' dancer

Corey Fallen is pursuing a federal lawsuit against New Jersey and Newark officials, claiming he was falsely arrested and unlawfully imprisoned for nearly six months in connection with the stabbing death of Denise Ramsey

NEWARK -- As his wife was giving birth to their son in Atlanta, Georgia on April 7, 2013, Corey Fallen was hundreds of miles away in a cell at the Essex County Correctional Facility.

After being arrested in Georgia and sent to New Jersey, Fallen said he spent nearly six months in custody on false allegations of being involved in the murder of a "go-go" dancer in East Orange.

When detectives ultimately returned to Atlanta, they confirmed what Fallen claims to have told them all along - he wasn't in New Jersey when the dancer went missing. In fact, Fallen has said he never visited the Garden State before being brought here as a murder suspect.

Soon after his son was born, Fallen was released from custody and an Essex County grand jury later declined to bring charges against him.

But Fallen said not being there for his son's birth has left him with a "missing spot in my heart."

"I'm the father. I feel like I should be there for my child being born," Fallen said. "That's very important. It should be important to any man, any human being having a child coming into this world."

Now the 34-year-old Fallen is pursuing a federal lawsuit against New Jersey and Newark officials, claiming he was falsely arrested and unlawfully imprisoned in connection with the stabbing death of Denise Ramsey.

While witnesses had identified Fallen as being with Ramsey when she was last seen alive in December 2011, his DNA was not found on Ramsey's body and detectives failed to reasonably investigate Fallen's whereabouts around the time of Ramsey's disappearance before obtaining a warrant for his arrest, according to the lawsuit.

"This has been overwhelming for me," said Fallen, who has another son from a previous relationship and a daughter with his wife.

Fallen's attorney, Tracey Hinson, said in a statement that detectives could have easily confirmed his innocence when they first traveled to Atlanta to obtain his DNA sample before he was arrested.

"The investigation conducted six months later which revealed Corey's innocence could have and should have been conducted from the outset before they ripped this poor man away from his family and caused him to miss the birth of his child," Hinson said.

The defendants named in the lawsuit include Newark Detective Joseph Hadley, Jr. and State Police Detective Thomas McEnroe, both of whom participated in the murder investigation.

Hadley and McEnroe have disputed Fallen's version of events, including that he told them other people had information about his whereabouts at the time of Ramsey's disappearance.

Brian Love, 42, of Riverdale, Georgia, is scheduled to go on trial next month on murder and weapons charges in the stabbing death of Denise Ramsey, who was found on Jan. 25, 2012 in East Orange.Essex County Correctional Facility 

The lawsuit was initially filed in state court in Georgia in September 2014 and ultimately transferred this year to federal court in New Jersey. An amended complaint was filed on July 22, 2015. Fallen's wife, Shantell Fallen, is also named as a plaintiff.

State and city officials last week filed motions to dismiss parts of the lawsuit on various legal grounds.

Lee Moore, a spokesman for the New Jersey Attorney General's Office, said state officials declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Another Georgia resident, Brian Love, is scheduled to go on trial next month on charges of killing Ramsey. His co-defendant, Johnny Jones III, remains at large.

Investigation begins

The investigation into Ramsey's death began on Jan. 25, 2012, when the body of the 33-year-old woman was found under a mattress in an East Orange lot, according to affidavits filed by the detectives in response to the lawsuit. Ramsey had been reported missing by her sister, the affidavits state.

Investigators learned Ramsey had been employed as a "go-go" dancer at the Doll House in Irvington, and that she last worked there on the night of Dec. 2, 2011 and the early morning hours of Dec. 3, according to the lawsuit.

Eyewitnesses reported seeing two male suspects at the club who gave Ramsey three one-hundred-dollar bills and asked her for change in the form of singles, according to McEnroe's affidavit. The witnesses said the men became angry when they only received change for one hundred-dollar bill, and began to threaten Ramsey and others at the club, the affidavit states.

The witnesses recalled one of the suspects saying, "if we don't get the money, then we gonna go outside, pop the trunk and kill everybody in here," the affidavit states. The witnesses also said one of the men entered the disc jockey's booth and announced they had "beaten a murder rap" in Atlanta and demanded their money back, the affidavit states.

Ramsey was last seen leaving the Doll House that evening and getting into a vehicle with the male suspects, according to witnesses, the affidavit states.

Based on the witness accounts, McEnroe said he contacted local law enforcement in Georgia to determine whether anyone had recently "beaten a murder rap," the affidavit states. Law enforcement in Georgia sent over six photos, including one of Fallen, the affidavit states.

The lawsuit claims the detectives learned that information about Fallen "by performing a quick internet search for individuals who had beaten a murder rap in Atlanta, Georgia."

According to the lawsuit, Fallen was falsely accused of murder in September 2007 and he was acquitted of those charges after a key witness explained his identification of Fallen "was entirely faulty and not based on any personal knowledge."

Witness IDs and DNA

After placing Fallen's photo in a photo array of potential suspects, a witness identified him as one of the men with Ramsey at the club, court documents state. At least one other witness also identified Fallen as a suspect, court documents state.

Johnny Jones III also was identified as a suspect, court documents state.

In September 2012, McEnroe and Hadley traveled to Atlanta to obtain search warrants for DNA samples from Fallen and Jones, court documents state.

When the detectives visited his home to collect the DNA sample, Fallen said on Wednesday that his whole family was "freaked out."

"I was just freaked out," Fallen said. "I didn't know what was going on."

Fallen told the detectives he had never been to New Jersey and explained that his co-workers and family members could confirm he was in Georgia at the time of Ramsey's disappearance, the lawsuit states.

When the DNA samples were later tested, Fallen's DNA did not match any DNA evidence recovered on Ramsey's body or any other DNA evidence recovered during the investigation, according to the lawsuit.

Jones's DNA, however, was linked to DNA found in a sweatshirt that was wrapped around Ramsey's body and DNA found under Ramsey's fingernails, the lawsuit states.

At a court hearing on Tuesday for Brian Love, the other alleged killer, Essex County Assistant Prosecutor Naazneen Khan indicated that his DNA was found under Ramsey's fingernails.

In their affidavits, Hadley and McEnroe said that, during the September 2012 visit, Fallen told them he had never been to New Jersey, but the detectives didn't recall him saying anything about his mother, wife or employer having information about his whereabouts on the night in question.

A trip to Jersey and back home

Fallen was ultimately arrested in Georgia in October 2012 on a charge of conspiracy to commit murder, and he was transported on Nov. 28, 2012 to the Essex County Correctional Facility, the lawsuit states. His arrest was based on the witness identifications, court documents state. 

His wife was forced to get a second job to pay bills, and she would break down in tears when the couple spoke by phone, Fallen said on Wednesday.

"When they arrested me, they took me away from my family," Fallen said. "I was scared. I was worried."

Corey Fallen spent several months in custody at the Essex County Correctional Facility, pictured above, in connection with Denise Ramsey's killing before he was released in April 2013. An Essex County grand jury later decided to not indict Fallen.Star-Ledger file photo 

In February 2013, Fallen's attorney provided prosecutors with affidavits from his co-workers to show he was in Georgia at the time of Ramsey's disappearance, according to the lawsuit.

After law enforcement officials did not further investigate Fallen's lack of a connection to the murder, he wrote a letter in April 2013 to a Superior Court judge, begging for his help, the lawsuit states.

When the judge demanded a further investigation, the detectives returned to Atlanta in April 2013 and collected time sheets and reviewed surveillance footage, the lawsuit states.

During that visit, Hadley and McEnroe said in their affidavits that they were able to corroborate the records provided to law enforcement and confirm that Fallen was not in New Jersey on the night when Ramsey went missing.

But the detectives said in their affidavits that, before April 2013, they were not aware that Fallen was repeatedly declaring his innocence or that he had any evidence to corroborate his whereabouts on the night of Ramsey's disappearance.

Fallen was released on his own recognizance on April 20, 2013, and flew home to Georgia later that day.

Essex County prosecutors presented Fallen's case to a grand jury, but the jurors decided on May 17, 2013 to not indict him in Ramsey's death. About a year later, another grand jury indicted Brian Love and Johnny Jones III in the killing.

Fallen said he has no plans of returning to New Jersey again.

"I'm terrified to go to New Jersey again," Fallen said. "I don't want to go back to New Jersey no more."

Bill Wichert may be reached at bwichert@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillWichertNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.