The shooting death of a limousine driver last week at the estate of New Jersey Storm owner Jayson Williams has been ruled a homicide, the medical examiner announced today.

Costas Christofi, 55, died early Thursday morning at Williams' "Who Knew?" estate in Alexandria Township in northwestern New Jersey.

Steven Diamond, Hunterdon County (NJ) medical examiner, labelled the fatality the result of a "gunshot wound to the chest and abdomen at intermediate range."

Diamond added that the death has been officially recorded as a homicide. However, that term does not imply that the killing was deliberate and does not, on its own, lead to certain criminal charges.

Steve Lember, acting Hunterdon County prosecutor, said yesterday that a decision on whether to file charges has not been made.

Christofi had driven several of Williams' friends from a Harlem Globetrotters game in Bethlehem, PA, to a restaurant, then to Williams' estate.

Reports in the Star-Ledger of Newark and The Record of Hackensack, and on WNBC-TV in New York, suggest that Williams was either tinkering with the shotgun or was twirling it in his hand when it discharged, striking Christofi.

Williams' lawyer, Joseph Hayden, has denied any reckless conduct on his client's part.

"There is no basis in fact for any allegation that Mr. Williams was involved in any horseplay with a gun," Hayden said. "There was no purposeful or reckless behavior on Mr. Williams' part."

Investigators have declined to identify the suspected shooter.