A co-defendant charged in connection with the 2014 homicide of Julio Cesar Cruz has been sentenced to seven years of imprisonment for robbing the victim while the other defendant in the case is currently incarcerated in state prison for causing the man’s death.

Dante Martin (left) and Michael Holman

Dante Martin, 22, was originally charged with murder during the commission of a crime but pleaded guilty to second-degree robbery in September and on Friday received his formal punishment.

Mercer County Superior Court Judge Robert Billmeier on Friday sentenced Martin to seven years of incarceration. The city man must serve 85 percent of the term behind bars and will be subjected to three years of parole supervision upon release.

The other defendant in the case, Michael Holman, 22, pleaded guilty earlier this year to first-degree aggravated manslaughter and is currently serving out a 15-year prison sentence at the Garden State Youth Correctional Facility.

Authorities arrested Martin and Holman on Feb. 27, 2014, charging both with murder in connection with the robbery-turned-homicide of 18-year-old Julio Cesar Cruz.

The incident occurred on Feb. 15, 2014, when Holman approached Cruz in the first block of Rusling Street in Trenton and slammed the victim on the ground as Martin robbed him. Cruz suffered a mortal head injury during the attack and was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

Prior to being sentenced, Martin and Holman were both being held at the Mercer County Correction Center on high monetary bail. They both received about 1,300 days of jail credit. Holman is scheduled to be released from state prison on Nov. 27, 2026, while Martin is projected to be released on parole in less than three years.

Leroy Tutt

A man accused of killing someone who previously shot him in the butt has been indicted on murder and weapons offenses.

A Mercer County grand jury indicted Leroy Tutt last week in connection with the revenge killing of 19-year-old Nebate Kalil Washington, also known as Nebate Anderson.

Washington was gunned down on June 30 across the street from his home in the first block of Sanford Street, where police found him lying on the ground between two vehicles. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police sources say Washington was the person who shot Tutt on the afternoon of April 26 in the 600 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Sources say Tutt ran into a deli as Washington fired at him. The incident shattered the deli’s glass door and left Tutt with a gunshot wound to the butt.

Washington was eventually arrested on May 2, by members of the Violent Crimes Unit who jumped out of their car when they saw him because he matched the description of a suspect accused in connection with two shootings. Detectives found a gun in Washington’s waistband that day, but he was only charged with weapons possession while police awaited the results of ballistics test.

Nebate Washington

Washington was released from jail after that gun arrest, pursuant to New Jersey’s new bail reform law. Police say ballistics tests later revealed the gun he had that Tuesday morning was used to shoot Tutt the week prior and additional warrants were issued for Washington’s arrest.

He was killed before police found him.

Tutt, 31, maintains his innocence, but two cooperating witnesses and cellphone tower data have implicated him in Washington’s murder.

Police reviewed communications data and confirmed that Tutt’s cellular telephone was in the general area of Sanford Street during the killing, according to court documents. But in an August court hearing the public defender representing him argued that the cell tower data “is not a link to the homicide.”

Tutt, who also lives on Sanford Street, is charged with murder and related weapons offenses. He remains held in the Mercer County Correction Center.

TRENTON >> Talaya Greenfield might finally know who killed her son.

Talaya Greenfield grasps a portrait of her son, taken when he was young boy. (Isaac Avilucea - The Trentonian)

Sworn court papers filed this month in the ongoing lawsuit the Trenton woman brought against the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office and city police last year suggest authorities are close to making arrests.

James Scott, an assistant prosecutor who heads the homicide unit, said in a certification there are “potentially identifiable suspects” in the murder of Jamer Greenfield, who was gunned down in Trenton in July 2014.

The unsolved case has dragged on for more than three years but is drawing to a close as the county homicide task force appears close to nabbing its targets.

“It is necessary for the MHTF to conduct additional interviews before the case will be in a position for review and potential issuance of arrest warrants and subsequent presentation to a grand jury for indictment(s),” Scott wrote.

The sworn court papers were filed in support of a motion to quash a subpoena, known as a duces tectum, issued by Patrick Whalen, the attorney representing Ms. Greenfield.

He asked for police reports, an autopsy and other documents related to the investigation.

Ms. Greenfield sued the prosecutor’s office last year, frustrated after she was unable to get her son’s autopsy report.

Talaya Greenfield sits before a Trentonian cafeteria table with documents and papers related to her slain son on Nov. 6, 2015 during an interview. (Scott Ketterer - The Trentonian)

Her attorney in a federal lawsuit accused local cops and prosecutors of a race-based conspiracy to “conceal” the identity of Jamer’s killer.

The lawsuit suggested police may have caused or contributed to the Trenton man’s death.

Scott’s sworn affidavit contradicts those allegations. In it, he said the prosecutor’s office has dedicated “time and manpower to ensure the responsible parties are brought to justice.”

Scott, who said he could not comment beyond what was in the papers, suggested that forcing the prosecutor’s office to turn over documents from the investigation would adversely impact the case.

“Due to the status of the Greenfield homicide, it is not appropriate or timely to release the material that plaintiff seeks in the subject subpoena,” the assistant prosecutor said. “Divulging the contents of the MHTF’s investigation file would be unreasonable and counterproductive to the continued pursuit of charges concerning the death of Mr. Greenfield.”

The prosecutor’s office was still required to respond to the subpoena despite being dismissed as a defendant in Ms. Greenfield’s lawsuit.

The county has also been dismissed as a defendant, according to court papers, leaving only claims against the Trenton Police department

A federal judge hasn’t issued a decision on the subpoena request.

Whalen did not immediately return a phone call requesting comment.

Wilma Rutledge (Facebook Photo)

A 58-year-old woman who died Friday afternoon from senseless gun violence outside the North 25 housing complex has been identified as Wilma Rutledge, who lived on Carver Lane where the shooting occurred.

The Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office on Saturday had no additional updates on the shooting that also left a 14-year-old city girl injured with gunshot wounds that were not considered to be life-threatening.

The incident occurred about 3:10 p.m. Friday at the intersection of Carver Lane and North Willow Street. Both shooting victims were transported to Capital Health Regional Medical Center by private means. Rutledge was pronounced dead at the hospital while the teenager was last reported to be in stable condition, officials said.

Rutledge’s grieving family members and friends did not immediately have any comments Saturday afternoon when a reporter from The Trentonian stopped by the household to send condolences.

Her niece Stephanie M. Rutledge, however, posted the following message on Facebook along with a photo:

“What a sad story to tell, my Aunt Wilma was in a horrible accident some months ago, and it didn’t look good for her, but she made it. This picture was taken the day she was finally able to leave the rehab, she’s the one with the shades on, she said I have to look fly....Sad to say today she was murdered yesterday in North 25 minding her own business.”

Sources say the victims of the shooting were innocent bystanders.

Trenton Mayor Eric Jackson on Friday called on the public to join him “in keeping the victims, their families and friends in our prayers as our police force executes the work that is needed to hold everyone involved in this senseless act accountable.”

A source with intimate knowledge of the situation said the 14-year-old shooting victim was a dedicated volunteer who helped special needs children. For the past six months, the teenager has worked with the Special Parent Advocacy Group, the source said of the girl, who is a student at the 9th Grade Academy in Trenton. She even volunteered on Thursday, the day before she was shot.

The source said the teenager was hanging out with a group of friends after school on Friday when a couple of guys came up and started shooting.

“The police director with the full support of the mayor is committing every asset at its disposal to identify and locate the individual or individuals responsible for this senseless and shocking act,” Trenton Police Lt. Stephen Varn said on Friday.

No arrests in connection with the fatal shooting have been announced as of Saturday afternoon. Anyone with information on the incident is urged to contact the Mercer County Homicide Task Force at (609) 989-6406 or the Trenton Police Confidential Tip Line at (609) 989-3663.

Staff Writer David Foster contributed to this report.

Trenton Police investigate a fatal shooting on North Willow Street and Carver Lane on Friday, Oct. 6, 2017. (GREGG SLABODA — The Trentonian)

Jihad Jenks

A suspect has been arrested in connection with the July 23 shooting death of Tisheen Rasheen Mack and then was released from jail on electronically monitored home detention after a judge blasted the state’s handling of the case.

Jihad “Jay” Jenks, 23, of Ewing, has been charged with second-degree provoked manslaughter and weapons offenses on allegations he shot and killed 26-year-old Mack “in the heat of passion” on the 800 block of East State Street.

Mack had a gun on him on the night he was slain, according to police sources. Police charged Jenks on Aug. 2 but failed to justify the charges in an affidavit of probable cause — a mind-boggling omission that prompted Mercer County Superior Court Judge Peter Warshaw to denounce the state’s prosecutorial practices.

“The only place where this defendant’s name appears in this complaint is in the portion of the complaint that lists the name of the defendant. How do I find probable cause based upon an affidavit of probable cause which doesn’t even mention the defendant?” Warshaw said at Jenks’ Aug. 29 detention hearing. “This is completely and totally unacceptable.”

“This is a 23-year-old man with absolutely no prior record from what I can tell, and you are asking me to detain him today based on an affidavit of probable cause which doesn’t even mention him by name let alone give me any meaningful detail about what happened other than a recitation of the fact that the victim was shot,” Warshaw added. “That’s really all I can tell — and a reaffirmation of the ZIP code in Trenton. I don’t know where the idea that this is an acceptable showing of probable cause comes in and in terms of the reporting, I don’t even know where to start with that.”

Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Michelle Gasparian told Warshaw that neither the Mercer County Homicide Task Force nor the Trenton Police Department had completed an investigative report that would have explained Jenks’ alleged involvement in the slaying of Mack. She said the state, however, had a three-hour recorded statement from an eyewitness who saw the gun violence and invited Warshaw to watch the video.

“And because nobody in your office or the Trenton Police Department has written any sort of report, my only choice is to watch all of this stuff? …” Warshaw said. “This is absurd.”

The state initially wanted to keep Jenks locked up without bail at the Mercer County Correction Center. The state filed its motion requesting pretrial detention on Aug. 5, but the detention hearing was delayed several times before finally being held Aug. 29 after Jenks hired private defense attorney John “Jack” Furlong.

“It is absolutely ridiculous that there is not a police report … four weeks after the complaint was signed,” Warshaw said. “I don’t want to hear about they are still working (on it).”

Furlong at the Aug. 29 detention hearing said he hoped the state would have provided him with more discovery evidence.

“It’s now six weeks post shooting, and there are no police reports,” Furlong said. “I was given a series of DVDs, the bulk of which appear to be CCTV (surveillance video) from the street. The state has represented to me that in those DVDs my client is seen entering or leaving a house on the street where the shooting occurred. … Candidly, I looked at those DVDs. I did not find anything revealing on that fact, but I don’t dispute that that is the state’s view of the situation.”

Gasparian said the state was pursuing pretrial detention on the grounds that Jenks would be at high risk of failing to appear in court and that Jenks would present a high-risk threat of danger to the community at large, but she could not overcome the liability of being sent to argue for detention against a defendant who was not linked to the crime scene under the affidavit of probable cause.

After Warshaw heavily criticized the state’s handling of the case, Furlong requested an off-the-record private conference with the judge and assistant prosecutor. The attorneys and judge went behind closed doors in the jury room for about 100 minutes — nearly two hours — and came back in the courtroom with the state announcing a sudden about-face.

“The state is going to be withdrawing its motion for detention and, upon agreement with the defense, is asking that Mr. Jenks be placed on electronic monitoring and home detention,” Gasparian said. “Mr. Jenks has no prior criminal history.”

With the state and defense attorney consenting to electronically monitored home detention, Warshaw signed the order and added additional conditions of release.

Jenks is confined to home detention at his grandfather’s house on the 1600 block of 12th Street in Ewing and must refrain from possessing a firearm, destructive device or other dangerous weapon and must refrain from excessive use of alcohol or any use of narcotics, drugs or other controlled substance without a prescription by a licensed medical practitioner.

Jenks also must not commit any new offenses during his pretrial release and must avoid any and all contact with James Diggs Jr., the eyewitness who saw Tisheen Mack get gunned down.

Tisheen Rasheen Mack (pictured) was shot and killed in Trenton July 23, 2017. (Facebook photo)

The three-hour statement that the eyewitness gave to police does not implicate Jenks in the July 23 homicide, according to Furlong, who said, “My client denies any knowledge of the crime.”

“The whole thing is a mystery to me and candidly I think the whole thing is a mystery to police, but they wanted to make an arrest and they did,” Furlong told The Trentonian on Tuesday. “Jihad was nowhere near the crime scene if there was a crime scene.”

Police sources say the slain Mack had a gun on him, which was found while medical personnel stabilized him at the scene. Mack was later pronounced dead at the hospital. He suffered numerous gunshot wounds.

The affidavit of probable cause had no substantive information in it, but it is possible that Mack may have engaged or attempted to engage his killer in a gunfight.

The circumstances surrounding Mack’s death seem comparable to the circumstances surrounding the 2015 shooting death of 19-year-old Elvin Kimble.

The slain Kimble was reportedly wearing a ski mask and still had a gun in his hand when police found him slumped over near a van on the 700 block of Division Street on Nov. 24, 2015.

Two defendants in the Kimble slaying were originally arrested on heavy murder charges, but Gary Spears, 35, of Trenton, ended up pleading guilty to first-degree aggravated manslaughter and has been sentenced to 10 years of incarceration while co-defendant Jermaine Johnson, 41, of Ewing, pleaded guilty to third-degree hindering prosecution and has been sentenced to five years behind bars.

In the Mack slaying, Jenks has been charged with second-degree manslaughter, possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a handgun without a permit for the Trenton homicide that occurred July 23.

Police charged Jenks under a peculiar statute known as 2C:11-4B (2), which defines provoked manslaughter as being a case where “a homicide which would otherwise be murder … is committed in the heat of passion resulting from a reasonable provocation.”

If Mack was armed with a gun, whoever gunned him down could have been under reasonable provocation.

“I don’t have any additional statements beyond what was said in court,” a Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office spokeswoman said Tuesday when asked why Jenks was charged with second-degree provoked manslaughter rather than first-degree murder and why prosecutors consented to Jenks being placed on electronically monitored home detention after initially pursuing pretrial detention.

Records show Jenks was committed to the Mercer County Correction Center on Aug. 4 and discharged Aug. 30 on his own recognizance with conditions that include electronically monitored home detention.

Wayne Bush (left) and Jafar “Young Farr” Lewis

The gunman who shot and killed Trenton hip-hop lyricist Jafar “Young Farr” Lewis over four years ago has now fessed up, abruptly ending his presumption of innocence in a lingering homicide case that previously ended in a mistrial.

Wayne Bush pleaded guilty last Friday to second-degree reasonable provocation manslaughter for slaying the 26-year-old rap artist on Aug. 23, 2013.

“He still wanted to go to trial, but his family was very much in favor of him taking the offer,” defense attorney John Furlong said of his client Bush. 

Under the plea agreement, the 39-year-old Bush could receive anywhere from five-to-10 years of state incarceration at his sentencing hearing, which is scheduled for Dec. 1. The state will likely request the maximum 10-year sentence, but Furlong said he will recommend the judge to impose the minimum five-year prison sentence.

Bush was originally charged with murder, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a weapon on allegations he armed himself with a pistol and fired a kill shot that ripped through Lewis’s skull on Middle Rose Street near Brunswick Avenue in Trenton’s North Ward.

Twanna Robinson heard two gunshots that night and then saw Bush standing above her fiancé Lewis, who was lying motionless on the ground. “You going to jail!” she immediately shouted at Bush, who fled from the scene in a vehicle, according to Robinson’s witness testimony.

At Bush’s initial murder trial in March, Mercer County Superior Court Judge Robert Billmeier declared a mistrial after the state’s final witness gave potentially inflammatory testimony on the witness stand. The state was preparing to retry the case, but then Bush fell into more legal troubles that gave him an incentive to take a plea deal.

Bush, who has been incarcerated at the Mercer County Correction Center since surrendering Aug. 30, 2013, was re-arrested Sept. 18 and charged with third-degree witness tampering and fourth-degree contempt. He is accused of recently contacting a witness in his homicide case and asking her about the welfare of her children and contacting the boyfriend of another witness in violation of a judge’s no-contact order.

Authorities say Bush was willing to offer something of value to a witness not to testify against him. The new criminal charges have resulted in Bush being jailed without bail on pretrial detention; he was previously being held on high monetary bail on the murder charges.

Considering that a trial by jury could have found Bush guilty of first-degree murder and considering that Bush has accrued four years of jail credit, he ultimately decided to resolve his homicide case by pleading guilty to second-degree provoked manslaughter in a deal that may also resolve the witness tampering case, according to Furlong.

The state has obtained a communications data warrant to explore whether Bush has made any further contact with witnesses, but Furlong said he is “confident” the state will not find any such evidence.

“The state has said based on the investigation to date, if nothing else comes out, they would be willing to let him plead guilty to contempt of court fourth-degree to run concurrent to manslaughter,” Furlong said.

If Bush is allowed to resolve his pending witness tampering case by pleading guilty to fourth-degree contempt at his Dec. 1 sentencing hearing, he would be sentenced to serve concurrent terms not to exceed 10 years. He would have to serve 85 percent of the manslaughter term and would be awarded four years of jail credit. Under that scenario, if a judge sentenced Bush to seven years of incarceration, he would end up serving less than two years in state prison for killing local hip-hop sensation Young Farr in cold blood.

A fifth person has been arrested in connection with the Oct. 6 shooting outside the North 25 housing complex that killed a city woman and injured a 14-year-old girl.

Convicted Trenton drug dealer Togbah Kpehe, 23, who recently served time in state prison for possessing and distributing narcotics, got re-arrested Monday and charged with accomplice liability murder and weapons offenses for his alleged role in the slaying of 58-year-old Wilma Rutledge.

Togbah Kpehe

Trenton Police Detective Scott Peterson of the Mercer County Homicide Task Force arrested Kpehe, the third adult to be charged in the case. Police last month arrested Trenton men Rahein McInnis, 32, and Zion Williams, 18, as well as two 16-year-old teens whom prosecutors have not identified because they are juveniles.

In addition to killing Rutledge, a local grandmother, the wild afternoon shooting outside the North 25 housing complex also injured a 14-year-old girl. 

All five defendants in the case face murder charges for the elder victim’s homicide and attempted murder charges for the teenager getting wounded by gunfire.

Prosecutors on Wednesday filed a motion seeking to keep Kpehe jailed without bail on pretrial detention. His court hearing is scheduled to take place 9 a.m. Nov. 14 before Mercer County Superior Court Judge Ronald Susswein.

The alleged getaway driver in the North 25 housing complex shooting that killed a city woman and injured a 14-year-old girl last month was “celebrating” shortly after the homicide, prosecutors said on Thursday.

Togbah Kpehe

Togbah Kpehe, 23, is accused of aiding and abetting the murder of 58-year-old Wilma Rutledge. He borrowed a friend’s BMW and used the vehicle to transport the armed perpetrators to the North 25 area and interacted with them after the Oct. 6 slaying, authorities allege.

“I don’t dispute that my client gave a ride to those guys,” John Furlong, Kpehe’s defense attorney, said Thursday in court, adding his client had no advance knowledge of a murder plot and that there is “no evidence my client was a participant.” 

The other co-defendants in the case are Trenton men Rahein McInnis, 32, and Zion Williams, 18, as well as two 16-year-old teens whom prosecutors have not identified because they are juveniles. Prosecutors say Williams and the two juveniles were armed when Kpehe dropped them off about a block away from the intersection of Carver Lane and North Willow Street in Trenton.

Kpehe did not witness the shooting, according to Furlong, who said his client was an unofficial rideshare service worker who occasionally transported people to various locations for a fee upon request. Kpehe drove Williams and both juveniles to the area near North 25 as a service and later met up with two of the alleged killers to get paid, Furlong said.

Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Heather Hadley said Kpehe was “not an Uber driver or a Lyft driver” and said the three alleged shooters had guns in their hands when Kpehe dropped them off, including one who was armed with what appeared to be a large-capacity ammunition clip.

At some point after the homicide, Kpehe met with two of the alleged killers in another part of the city and greeted them with hand-shaking or hand-clapping, Hadley said, adding, “There was no money that was exchanged.”

“There was some kind of agreement that this defendant was going to be a getaway driver for this shooting that happened at 3 in the afternoon,” Hadley said of Kpehe, citing surveillance video footage. “He is just as culpable as the individuals who pulled the trigger.”

No video was played in court during Kpehe’s detention hearing on Thursday, and Mercer County Superior Court Judge Ronald Susswein ordered Kpehe to be jailed without bail on pretrial detention. Hadley said video evidence shows Kpehe slapping hands with two of the alleged killers in a “celebratory” manner post-homicide.

Furlong said he had reviewed the state’s video evidence and saw no guns in the hands of the co-defendants who Kpehe dropped off and that “there is no celebratory handshaking” after the fatal shooting. “We don’t have probable cause to implicate my client,” he said. The judge nonetheless found probable cause to proceed with the hearing.

Furlong was unable to play any video evidence in court Thursday because he had the footage saved onto a Blu-ray disc and Susswein’s courtroom was not equipped to playback Blu-ray discs. The judge said he would reopen the detention hearing once Furlong gathers the video evidence in a format that can be played back in court.

Another point of contention on Thursday concerned the vehicle that Kpehe was driving on the afternoon of the fatal North 25 shooting. Prosecutors said Kpehe borrowed a BMW from a female friend, used the vehicle to transport the alleged shooters near the housing complex and then later ditched the vehicle in another part of the city, telling the vehicle’s owner that the BMW was carjacked.

Furlong said the state has a recording of Kpehe speaking with the car’s owner and that Kpehe in that conversation never said anything about a carjacking. A law-enforcement officer overheard that conversation between Kpehe and the car owner, Furlong said.

The car owner also gave a separate statement to police saying that Kpehe had told her the car was carjacked, Hadley said, adding, “All of her statement is on video.”

With the defense attorney and prosecutor not agreeing on certain facts in the case, Judge Susswein quipped, “This is not a mini-trial.”

Kpehe was arrested last week after turning himself in, and the other four co-defendants were arrested last month. All five defendants face murder charges for the elder victim’s homicide and attempted murder charges for the teenager getting wounded by gunfire. Kpehe is being prosecuted under the theory of accomplice liability, which is an aiding and abetting charge. He recently served time in state prison for possessing and distributing narcotics.

All three adult defendants in the case remain incarcerated without bail on pretrial detention, while the two juvenile defendants are presumably being held without bail and could potentially be waived up to adult court.

One of the women charged with accomplice liability murder in connection with last year’s Lyft rideshare homicide has been released from jail after pleading guilty to a theft conspiracy charge.

Dominique Richter

Dominique Richter, 32, of Hamilton, was originally facing a possible 30 years to life in prison on allegations she aided and abetted the November 2016 shooting death of 27-year-old Amber Dudley. Now Richter could be sentenced to as low as three years of incarceration or as much as five years for pleading guilty to a third-degree nonviolent crime.

Dudley, a Collingswood resident, suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the chest as a rideshare passenger caught in the middle of a grisly robbery-turned-murder plot in Trenton’s North Ward 12 months ago. Prosecutors said Richter was involved in a conspiracy to lure a Lyft rideshare vehicle into the capital city for the purposes of promoting a theft scheme. 

On the evening of Nov. 30, 2016, a Lyft vehicle arrived in the area of Mechanics and East Trenton avenues and was confronted by a gunman who attempted to rob a male passenger.  The gunman’s weapon discharged during the confrontation, wounding Dudley with lethal injuries that eventually led to her death, prosecutors said.

Amber Dudley

The victim’s younger sister, Brittney Dudley, said her family was “devastated by this loss” in a GoFundMe campaign. The family was lacking funds for Amber Dudley’s funeral and ended up raising $3,125 in a GoFundMe call for help, exceeding the initial $2,000 goal.

Ronderrick Manuel, 43, of Trenton, is being prosecuted as the alleged principal gunman responsible for Dudley’s violent death. The other co-defendants charged with accomplice liability murder are Andrew Alston, 40, of Trenton; Douglas Mathis, 53, of Trenton; and Kasey DeZolt, 33, of Morrisville, Pa.

The three male defendants are being jailed without bail on pretrial detention, and DeZolt is being held on $500,000 cash bail. Meanwhile, Richter is free and awaiting sentencing for pleading guilty to third-degree theft conspiracy, according to court records.

Richter got off light, considering a Mercer County grand jury in April handed up an indictment charging all five co-defendants with first-degree murder — the heaviest criminal offense in New Jersey that commands decades of prison time for anyone convicted on that count.

Richter was committed to the Mercer County Correction Center on Dec. 22, 2016, after being charged with murder on the theory of accomplice liability. She was being held on $500,000 cash bail until Sept. 11, when Superior Court Judge Darlene Pereksta released Richter on her own recognizance upon pleading guilty for her nonviolent role in the homicide case, records show.

Richter admitted she had participated in a conspiracy with other people to promote or facilitate a plan for a principal actor to steal movable property from an unwitting victim.

The state will formally dismiss Richter’s accomplice liability murder charges at her upcoming sentencing hearing. Raymond C. Staub, Richter’s defense attorney, did not immediately have comments on his client’s plea agreement. Staub previously argued in court that his client is the mother of a young child and is not a flight risk.

“It is our policy not to comment on plea offers while cases are active and pending,” Casey DeBlasio, spokeswoman for the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office, said Tuesday in an email.

At a December 2016 bail hearing, Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Grillo said Richter had “implicated herself and others” in the murder of Amber Dudley and organized the robbery “by her own admission.”

The state could potentially call upon Richter to testify against the co-defendants in the murder case. She is scheduled to be sentenced 9 a.m. Dec. 1 before Judge Pereksta.

Richter listed Capital Health Regional Medical Center as her employer on Facebook last year, but a hospital spokeswoman would not confirm whether she worked there, saying Capital Health does not provide information on a “police matter.”

Wade Williams

A city man was charged with the September slaying of a Ewing man.

Authorities announced they arrested Wade J. Williams, 42, in connection with the murder of 51-year-old Tyrone King. The Sept. 17 killing was described by police as an isolated incident that happened during a stretch that included two other murders, capped by the gunning down of King.

King, who originally hailed from North Trenton and was known as “Big Face,” was described by friends as a “good dude” and a “humble person” murdered following a senseless spat with someone inside a car.

Mercer County investigators say that someone was Williams, of West State Street, who has been charged with murder, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a weapon.

After being educated in the Trenton public schools system, King worked for Discount Auto in Langhorne, Pa., for two decades, according to his obituary. He loved having cookouts and watching sports. He was accommodating, trying hard to make sure friends and family were comfortable.

“He would even give you the shirt off of his back,” family wrote in his obituary. “Of course you were going to hear a few choice words...but at the end of the day, he came through. He made everyone feel welcome and everyone loved him for it.”

The Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office did not elaborate on a possible motive for the killing in a statement it sent out Tuesday announcing Williams’ arrest.

Charges followed an investigation by the county’s Homicide Task Force, led by Trenton Police’s Waldemar Garcia.

Trenton cops responded to calls for shots fired in the 900 block of Martin Luther King Boulevard. When patrol officers arrived, they found King laying on the floor inside a deli. He was bleeding from a gunshot wound to the chest and transported to Capital Medical Regional Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

Williams was apprehended at his home Tuesday morning by members of the U.S. Marshals and county task force. Prosecutors are expected to file a motion to have Williams detained.

Self-confessed killer Wayne Bush has finally arrived at his new home — New Jersey State Prison in Trenton — for slaying a capital city rap artist in a grisly 2013 shooting.

Wayne Bush (New Jersey Department of Corrections Photo)

The state’s judiciary on Dec. 1 slapped Bush with seven years of incarceration for the homicide. Bush, 39, was originally charged with murder and weapons offenses but pleaded guilty Oct. 6 to an amended count of second-degree manslaughter committed recklessly.

Bush armed himself with a pistol and fired a kill shot that ripped through the skull of Jafar “Young Farr” Lewis during the evening of Aug. 23, 2013. The incident occurred on Middle Rose Street near Brunswick Avenue in Trenton’s North Ward. The hip-hop lyricist was later pronounced dead at the hospital. 

Twanna Robinson, the victim’s fiancée, gave a vivid account of the slaying earlier this year in court. She heard the gunshots that killed her man. She also testified that she saw Bush standing tall above Lewis, who was lying motionless on the ground after being gunned down that night.

Jafar "Young Farr" Lewis

“You going to jail!” Robinson shouted as Bush briefly stood at the homicide scene in a daze, according to Robinson’s witness testimony. The triggerman then fled the scene in a vehicle.

Although Robinson provided gripping testimony during the murder trial, the jury never got a chance to deliberate over Bush’s fate as Mercer County Superior Court Judge Robert Billmeier declared a mistrial in response to another witness delivering potentially inflammatory testimony on the witness stand.

The state was prepared to retry Bush on murder charges, but the defendant pleaded guilty to reckless manslaughter after getting into additional legal trouble.

Bush was re-arrested Sept. 18 and charged with third-degree witness tampering and fourth-degree contempt on allegations he contacted a witness in his homicide case and contacted the boyfriend of another witness in violation of a judge’s no-contact order. Bush ultimately fessed up to fourth-degree contempt and received 14 months of incarceration to run concurrent with his other sentence.

For shooting the hip-hop lyricist to death and confessing to it, Bush must serve at least 85 percent of his seven-year prison term and will be subjected to three years of parole supervision upon release. Judge Billmeier on Dec. 1 also ordered Bush to have no contact with four individuals, including Twanna Robinson and the victim’s mother Jacqueline Marshall, and he must pay $2,815 in restitution to Marshall at a rate of $100 per month, according to the judgment of conviction that shows Bush must begin paying the restitution six months after his release from prison.

Bush received 1,502 days of jail credit for being locked up on two separate stints from Aug. 30, 2013, through July 27, 2017, and from Sept. 18 through Nov. 30, according to court records, which show he was briefly free on bail when he violated a judge’s no-contact order in September.

Bush is currently incarcerated at New Jersey State Prison in Trenton and will be eligible for parole in October 2019, according to the New Jersey Department of Corrections.

Justice has been served in the June 2016 stabbing death of 27-year-old Honduran immigrant Carlos Leiva-Oviedo.

Danny Saad, the 16-year-old boy who had confessed to the Chambersburg slaying, received an 18-year prison sentence last Friday. He previously pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter on Oct. 2.

This surveillance video still image helped police arrest Danny Saad as the attacker who stabbed Carlos Leiva-Oviedo to death last year. (Submitted image)

Saad was originally charged with murder, armed robbery and weapons offenses in connection with the homicide, which occurred near the intersection of Hudson and Genesee streets during the early morning hours of June 14, 2016. Leiva-Oviedo suffered multiple stab wounds and was later pronounced dead at the hospital. 

Detective Roberto Reyes of the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office, with assistance from other agencies, arrested Saad at a relative’s house in Newark on July 6, 2016. Saad was 15 at the time of his juvenile arrest and turned 16 in May shortly after prosecutors charged him as an adult. Saad himself is a Newark resident.

The homicide victim Leiva-Oviedo was an immigrant from Honduras who moved to Trenton circa 2014 to earn money for his family, most of whom still live in Honduras. He was the father of a young child and provided for his family by working in Trenton as a roofer.

Carlos Leiva-Oviedo

Weeks after the slaying, authorities released a still image and surveillance video of two men who were said to be connected to the homicide case. The Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office previously disclosed that the video and image released to the media by police in July 2016 “helped investigators identify Saad” and solve the case, which suggests Saad acted alone and had no accomplices.

Mercer County Superior Court Judge Robert Bingham II sentenced Saad last Friday to 18 years of incarceration to be followed by five years of parole supervision. He must serve 85 percent of his prison term minus 519 days of jail credit, according to court records.

Following his sentencing last Friday, court records show that Saad had a second sentencing hearing on Wednesday. It was not immediately clear why Saad had to undergo a second round of sentencing for the same case, but it could have been to correct a mistake in the record.

Erroneous court records on Wednesday indicated that Saad was sentenced for first-degree murder — a crime that carries a punishment of 30 years to life in prison — but he had actually pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of first-degree aggravated manslaughter in a deal that called for all other charges against him to be dismissed.

A city man who viciously stabbed his girlfriend to death in June 2013 received 22 years of state incarceration on Friday but suggested life imprisonment would have been more appropriate.

William Nobles

William Nobles, who previously pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter, said his slain lover “did not deserve to be murdered like that,” adding, “I don’t deserve to be back on the street.”

Nobles, 44, armed himself with scissors and stabbed 54-year-old Celeste Pernell over 20 times inside her Southard Street home on June 1, 2013. Trenton Police arrested him two days later on murder charges and weapons offenses. 

Shackled in chains and sporting an orange jumpsuit, Nobles described himself as a “good person” when the court gave him the opportunity to speak Friday morning at his sentencing hearing. He also suggested his domestic violence was out of character, telling the court he had failed to take his medication prior to the slaying.

“I never ever meant to hurt Celeste,” Nobles said before Mercer County Superior Court Judge Thomas Brown. “I am not a violent person toward females. That’s not what I do. … I loved Celeste.”

Brown described the homicide as a “heinous, senseless, violent killing” and recited Nobles’ prior convictions for shoplifting, first-degree robbery and second-degree aggravated assault before sentencing the defendant to 22 years in state prison in accordance with the plea agreement.

Patricia Stokes-Combs, a longtime friend of the slain victim, admonished Nobles in no uncertain terms when she addressed the court Friday. Standing behind the podium and turning her body toward Nobles, Stokes-Combs said, “Celeste meant everything to us. … She fed you. She told me she loved you. When I first saw you, there was something about you I didn’t like.”

The bespectacled Nobles sat quietly at the defense table and looked down as Stokes-Combs spoke, prompting her to say, “Please look at me, Mr. Nobles. Mr. Nobles, be a man. Hold your head up. You’ve got to have some remorse.”

Nobles had taken the voice, air and last breath away from his girlfriend, Stokes-Combs said, adding, “I hope they bring you out of that jail in a body bag.”

After Stokes-Combs concluded her remarks, Nobles addressed the court and said, “I never met the lady who was standing here.”

Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Michelle Gasparian described the June 2013 slaying as a “brutal domestic violence homicide” and mentioned the gory details of how Pernell had scissors protruding out of her neck when authorities discovered her slain body. “Ms. Pernell was killed by somebody she loved, somebody she trusted,” Gasparian said Friday at Nobles’ sentencing hearing.

If Nobles had taken his case to trial, public defender Jenna Casper would have presented a diminished capacity defense arguing that Nobles was in a temporary mental state that prevented him from forming the thought process necessary to prove he had intentionally killed his girlfriend.

At Friday’s sentencing hearing, Casper told the court her client “accepts responsibility” for the homicide, adding, “He’s extremely sorry for what happened.”

A grand jury in March 2014 indicted Nobles on murder charges and weapons offenses, but he ultimately resolved his case by pleading guilty Oct. 19 to the lesser charge of aggravated manslaughter. His plea agreement recommended a 22-year prison sentence and called for the state to dismiss the remaining charges in the indictment.

Although Nobles said, “I don’t deserve to be back on the street,” and, “If they had the death penalty I would accept it,” Judge Brown still honored the plea agreement and sentenced him to 22 years of incarceration.

Nobles must serve at least 85 percent of the sentence before he can become eligible for parole and will be subjected to five years of parole supervision upon release. He received several years of jail credit for being locked up on high monetary bail while his case played out in court.

A man died after being shot in a car, which he crashed into this fence on Asbury Street. (Penny Ray - Trentonian)

A broken chain-link fence, yellow chalk circles, crime scene tape and a freshly washed sidewalk: those were the remains of an early morning homicide that ended a two-month span free of murder in the capital city.

"It's like Chicago out here," a city resident said while visiting the scene trying to learn the victim's name less than six hours after the killing. "It's sad."

A man was shot and killed Sunday morning while behind the wheel of an Acura in South Trenton. Sources say the car had a Pennsylvania license plate.

The adult male, whose name has not been released pending family notification, was shot in the unit block of Asbury Street. He then drove the car a few hundred feet before jumping the sidewalk and crashing into a residential fence at the corner of Asbury and Steamboat streets.

The victim suffered multiple gunshot wounds including at least one to the chest, according to officials who say he was pronounced dead at the scene around 4:05 a.m.

"South Trenton is a war zone," a police source said.

Yellow chalk circles on the concrete signified that at least two shell casings, and possibly a third, were found at the scene.

The victim's body remained at the crash site for approximately five hours before being transported to the morgue, allowing fire personnel and crime scene technicians to wash blood off the sidewalk and clean up the street.

With less than two weeks left, so far this year, 22 people have been killed in Trenton, which includes two hit-and-run vehicular homicides.

With the addition of Sunday's slaying, South Trenton has seen a lot of violence and criminal activity this year, including at least six murders: Robert Powell Jr. was killed during a 35-hour standoff on Centre Street in May; Brenda Garzio was stabbed to death on South Broad Street later that month; Kyler Bragg was shot and killed near the intersection of Division and Hewitt streets in July and Anthony Flowers was killed on Lamberton Street in September, about five hours before Shawn Harrell was murdered near the intersection of Daymond and Bridge streets.

Not to mention the "suspicious death" of Lillian Duran, whose body was found wrapped in a trash bag on the side of Lamberton Street in September. A medical examiner ruled Duran's death inconclusive, but law enforcement sources who spoke on condition of anonymity believe she died from a drug overdose after being forced to take a "hot bag" of dope. Investigators believe her body was dumped on the side of the road as a warning to others.

The Mercer County Homicide Task Force is investigating Sunday's killing. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call (609) 989-6406. Or use the Trenton Police Confidential Tip Line at (609) 989-3663.

A man died after being shot in a car, which then jumped the sidewalk and traveled between this fence and tree before crashing early Sunday morning. (Penny Ray - Trentonian)

A man died after being shot in a car, which he crashed into this fence early Sunday morning. (Penny Ray - Trentonian)

Ronald Parker (Facebook image)

Authorities identified the slain man gunned down Sunday morning as 45-year-old Ronald Parker.

Parker, of Trenton, was shot multiple times while behind the wheel of an Acura in South Trenton. He sustained at least one gunshot to the chest and was pronounced dead at the scene around 4:05 a.m.

Sources said the Acura had Pennsylvania plates. Parker was shot on Asbury Street and drove a few hundred feet before he came to his final resting spot, crashing into a fence near the intersection of Asbury and Steamboat streets.

The Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office said no arrests have been made and the investigation continues.

Parker worked at UPS and attended Trenton Central High School, according to his Facebook page.

Shannon Jacqua Parker, Parker’s son, took to Facebook to write about his father’s death.

“My f---in’ dad got killed,” he said in the post. “Man I’m done.”

In an almost foreboding post made more than a month before his dad was gunned down, Shannon Parker lamented the gun violence that has overtaken the capital city.

“Man, n---as always shootin’,” he said. “Where the handa at now days? S--- is crazy.”

Shannon Parker did not immediately respond to a message left through the social network.

This is a developing story.

The man accused of shooting and killing 26-year-old Tisheen Mack in a summertime crime of passion has been indicted on manslaughter charges.

Jihad Jenks

Jihad “Jay” Jenks, 23, of Ewing, remains free on electronically monitored home detention as he awaits post-indictment arraignment, according to court records. He is accused of gunning down Mack near the intersection of East State Street and Chambers Street in Trenton July 23.

A grand jury handed up an indictment last Wednesday charging Jenks with second-degree manslaughter committed in the heat of passion resulting from a reasonable provocation, second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and second-degree unlawful possession of a handgun without a permit, court records show. 

Law enforcement failed to produce a detailed police report against Jenks in a timely fashion this summer, which prompted the state to withdraw its detention motion in the case. The indictment, however, indicates that a grand jury found sufficient evidence to bring criminal charges against Jenks.

The indictment also suggests that the state’s case against Jenks is strong, considering the grand jury handed up homicide-based charges rather than dismissing them with a no bill.

Jenks maintains his innocence and denies any knowledge of the crime, according to his attorney. An affidavit of probable cause provided no substantive information in the case, but the homicide victim Tisheen “Booda Black” Mack of Trenton may have engaged or attempted to engage his killer in a gunfight.

Tisheen Rasheen Mack (Facebook photo)

Mack had a gun in his possession on the night he was killed, according to police sources, who said medical personnel discovered the weapon upon stabilizing Mack at the scene. He suffered numerous gunshot wounds on the 800 block of East State Street and was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

Police arrested Jenks and charged him with manslaughter in the heat of passion about two weeks after the slaying. The Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office filed a motion Aug. 5 seeking to keep Jenks locked up without bail on pretrial detention, but the state ultimately withdrew its detention motion Aug. 29 after a judge blasted the state’s initial handling of the case.

“This is a 23-year-old man with absolutely no prior record from what I can tell, and you are asking me to detain him today based on an affidavit of probable cause which doesn’t even mention him by name let alone give me any meaningful detail about what happened other than a recitation of the fact that the victim was shot,” Mercer County Superior Court Judge Peter Warshaw said at Jenks’ Aug. 29 detention hearing. “I don’t know where the idea that this is an acceptable showing of probable cause comes in and in terms of the reporting, I don’t even know where to start with that.”

At the detention hearing, Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Michelle Gasparian told Warshaw that neither the Mercer County Homicide Task Force nor the Trenton Police Department had completed an investigative report that would have explained Jenks’ alleged involvement in the slaying of Mack. She said the state, however, had a three-hour recorded statement from an eyewitness who saw the gun violence. She then invited Warshaw to watch the video.

“And because nobody in your office or the Trenton Police Department has written any sort of report, my only choice is to watch all of this stuff? …” Warshaw said, adding it was “absolutely ridiculous” that the state failed to produce a timely police report. Authorities filed manslaughter charges against Jenks Aug. 2 but failed to produce any substantive charging documents before his Aug. 29 detention hearing.

With the state withdrawing its detention motion amid heavy judicial criticism, Warshaw ordered Jenks to be released from the county jail onto electronically monitored house arrest. Jenks remains confined to home detention at his grandfather’s house on the 1600 block of 12th Street in Ewing and must refrain from committing any new criminal offenses as a condition of his pretrial release.

Jenks is represented by private defense attorney John Furlong and is scheduled to appear before Warshaw on Jan. 5, 2018, for a post-indictment arraignment.

To convict Jenks on the manslaughter count, prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he killed Mack in the heat of passion as a direct result of being provoked. Jenks faces five to 10 years in state prison if convicted.

A 300-pound disabled man who suffers from a spinal cord injury is the alleged gunman who shot and killed 51-year-old Tyrone “Big Face” King Sr. in broad daylight Sept. 17.

Wade Williams, 42, appeared in court Wednesday in a wheelchair and sporting an orange jumpsuit as his defense attorney Robin Lord suggested it would be “cruel and unusual punishment” for the handicapped city man to be detained without bail at the Mercer County jail.

Wade Williams (left) and Tyrone King Sr.

The Mercer County Homicide Task Force arrested Williams Dec. 5 at his girlfriend’s house in connection with the murder of King, a beloved family man who is survived by four children and several siblings.

The state has surveillance video footage, cellphone tower data and statements from confidential informants and an eyewitness to prove that Williams is the triggerman who gunned down King on the 900 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in North Trenton, according to court documents. 

At Williams’ detention hearing Wednesday morning, Lord argued that the state has a weak case against her client, saying the state is engaging in “prosecution by rumor.”

When Superior Court Judge Ronald Susswein determined the state had probable cause in charging Williams with first-degree murder and weapons offenses, Lord then revealed that Williams suffers from cervical spinal stenosis and that he cannot properly bathe himself in the jail’s shower stall and “can’t wipe his own behind” after a bowel movement.

Williams has been incarcerated at the Mercer County Correction Center’s infirmary since his arrest. Lord at Wednesday’s detention hearing suggested her client could be released on electronically monitored home detention and into the care of his girlfriend.

The infirmary at the jail has “freezing” climate conditions and lacks the capacity to accommodate Williams’ needs, according to Lord. “It would be a shame to house Wade Williams in such unsanitary conditions” for months of pretrial detention in a case that could end in acquittal, she said, noting her client’s feet “are so swollen” and that he “can barely fit in the stall” to take a shower at the jail.

Williams and his girlfriend are engaged and have a 4-year-old child together, Lord said, adding the fiancée is also pregnant with Williams’ unborn child and that the fiancée would help Williams maintain cleanliness and good hygiene if he was released on house arrest. “He needs somebody to wipe him,” Lord said of her client. “He can’t wipe his own behind. He has sores now on his rear end.”

Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Sean McMurtry argued that Williams is charged with murder, faces life in prison, and presents a “flight risk” and “danger to the community.”

Judge Susswein found probable cause in the state’s case against Williams and concluded Wednesday’s detention hearing by ordering Williams to remain jailed without bail on pretrial detention. “This is about risk assessment,” Susswein said. “He has a long criminal history, which in my mind bolsters the argument that detention is merited.”

Much of Williams’ criminal history involves drug distribution. A Superior Court judge earlier this year sentenced Williams to three years of probation for selling drugs on the streets of Trenton in August 2013.

Susswein said he understands Lord’s concerns about the infirmary being too cold and accepts Williams is disabled with a spinal cord injury, but he added, “I don’t agree this is a weak case riddled with holes” and alleged that Williams “had no difficulty getting to a location, shooting somebody and fleeing from it.”

Grieving family

The homicide victim Tyrone King was a Ewing resident who originally hailed from Trenton. He worked for Discount Auto in Langhorne, Pa., for two decades and was the father of three daughters and one “heartbroken” U.S. Marine son, according to King’s siblings who attended Wednesday’s detention hearing.

Prior to the detention hearing, King’s relatives told The Trentonian they hope to see Williams convicted and punished to the maximum extent allowed by law.

“This guy has got to pay,” the victim’s sister Kim King, 56, said of Williams, alleging that he “took somebody very dear to us. Our holidays are ruined, and it won’t be the same without Tyrone.”

“They say justice is blind,” the victim’s brother Michael King said, “but God can see, and I want that guy to be just where he is supposed to be — to be behind bars for 1,000 years.”

Tyrone King suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the chest about 11:30 a.m. Sept. 17 and was later pronounced dead at the hospital, authorities said.

Fatal confrontation

On the day of the murder, Wade Williams was driving a silver-colored Toyota 4Runner SUV, according to the affidavit of probable cause, which indicates the vehicle was a rental truck that was rented to the defendant’s brother Nathaniel Williams.

Wade Williams got behind the wheel of the rental vehicle on the morning of Sept. 17 and drove to the 900 block of MLK Jr. Boulevard near a deli, where he encountered Tyrone King in a verbal argument.  Williams drove away from the area but returned about 20 minutes later with a firearm and fired the weapon from the vehicle, striking King’s chest, according to the allegations outlined in the police affidavit.

Mortally wounded, King clenched his chest with both hands and ran inside the deli after getting shot. Authorities say Williams fled from the murder scene in the Toyota and that surveillance video and cellphone tower data proves he was in the vicinity of the crime scene and quickly drove into Pennsylvania via the Trenton Makes Bridge after King was gunned down.

Authorities say surveillance footage depicts a “heavyset” male operating the Toyota 4Runner on the day of King’s murder. Judge Susswein, citing the affidavit of probable cause at Wade Williams’ detention hearing, said Wade Williams matched the driver’s description and that the defendant’s brother Nathaniel Williams has a slender build and was determined to be in the vicinity of Spring Street at the time of the shooting.

Police interviewed a witness at the murder scene on Sept. 17 and interviewed that witness again on Sept. 21 in a video-recorded session that defense attorney Robin Lord played in court Wednesday. Police asked the witness what the word on the street was, and the witness in the Sept. 21 interview said the initial word on the street was that the homicide victim was messing with young boys but that the latest word was that Wade Williams was the alleged triggerman.

Police filed murder charges against Williams on Dec. 4 and arrested him the following day, according to court records.

“It appears Mr. Williams is being prosecuted by rumor on the street,” Lord said. “This is prosecution by rumor and hearsay and word on the street.”

Self-confessed killer Wayne Bush has finally arrived at his new home — New Jersey State Prison in Trenton — for slaying a capital city rap artist in a grisly 2013 shooting.

Wayne Bush (New Jersey Department of Corrections Photo)

The state’s judiciary on Dec. 1 slapped Bush with seven years of incarceration for the homicide. Bush, 39, was originally charged with murder and weapons offenses but pleaded guilty Oct. 6 to an amended count of second-degree manslaughter committed recklessly.

Bush armed himself with a pistol and fired a kill shot that ripped through the skull of Jafar “Young Farr” Lewis during the evening of Aug. 23, 2013. The incident occurred on Middle Rose Street near Brunswick Avenue in Trenton’s North Ward. The hip-hop lyricist was later pronounced dead at the hospital. 

Twanna Robinson, the victim’s fiancée, gave a vivid account of the slaying earlier this year in court. She heard the gunshots that killed her man. She also testified that she saw Bush standing tall above Lewis, who was lying motionless on the ground after being gunned down that night.

Jafar "Young Farr" Lewis

“You going to jail!” Robinson shouted as Bush briefly stood at the homicide scene in a daze, according to Robinson’s witness testimony. The triggerman then fled the scene in a vehicle.

Although Robinson provided gripping testimony during the murder trial, the jury never got a chance to deliberate over Bush’s fate as Mercer County Superior Court Judge Robert Billmeier declared a mistrial in response to another witness delivering potentially inflammatory testimony on the witness stand.

The state was prepared to retry Bush on murder charges, but the defendant pleaded guilty to reckless manslaughter after getting into additional legal trouble.

Bush was re-arrested Sept. 18 and charged with third-degree witness tampering and fourth-degree contempt on allegations he contacted a witness in his homicide case and contacted the boyfriend of another witness in violation of a judge’s no-contact order. Bush ultimately fessed up to fourth-degree contempt and received 14 months of incarceration to run concurrent with his other sentence.

For shooting the hip-hop lyricist to death and confessing to it, Bush must serve at least 85 percent of his seven-year prison term and will be subjected to three years of parole supervision upon release. Judge Billmeier on Dec. 1 also ordered Bush to have no contact with four individuals, including Twanna Robinson and the victim’s mother Jacqueline Marshall, and he must pay $2,815 in restitution to Marshall at a rate of $100 per month, according to the judgment of conviction that shows Bush must begin paying the restitution six months after his release from prison.

Bush received 1,502 days of jail credit for being locked up on two separate stints from Aug. 30, 2013, through July 27, 2017, and from Sept. 18 through Nov. 30, according to court records, which show he was briefly free on bail when he violated a judge’s no-contact order in September.

Bush is currently incarcerated at New Jersey State Prison in Trenton and will be eligible for parole in October 2019, according to the New Jersey Department of Corrections.

Trenton Police investigate a homicide involving a gunshot victim who crashed on the 300 block of Mulberry Street on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017. (SULAIMAN ABDUR-RAHMAN - The Trentonian)

A gunshot victim crashed his vehicle in the North Ward and died from his injuries Thursday night, marking the city’s latest homicide.

Police received a call for a motor vehicle accident on the 300 block of Mulberry Street about 6 p.m. Thursday. When officers arrived on scene, they located a male in the vehicle who had struck a pole and another vehicle, according to Trenton Police Lt. Stephen Varn.

The victim was rushed to Capital Health Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead about 6:35 p.m. Thursday. Police at the time treated the incident as a conventional motor vehicle accident but then summoned the Mercer County Homicide Task Force upon learning that the male victim behind the wheel of the crashed vehicle had been shot, according to Varn. 

“The circumstances surrounding the incident are still under investigation,” he said about 9:30 p.m. Thursday. “It is currently being investigated as a homicide.”

With less than two weeks left, so far this year, 23 people have been killed in Trenton, which includes two hit-and-run vehicular homicides.

Varn on Thursday night did not release a name or age for the latest homicide victim. The Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office on Friday identified the victim as Brian Ficzko, 40, of Flemington.

Brian Ficzko

Ficzko suffered a gunshot wound to the chest. It was not immediately clear whether the victim was shot while driving or if the victim was shot prior to getting in the vehicle and attempted to drive it while wounded.

Trenton Police investigate a homicide involving a gunshot victim who crashed on the 300 block of Mulberry Street on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017. (SULAIMAN ABDUR-RAHMAN - The Trentonian)

Police have not announced any arrests or suspect descriptions in the Thursday night slaying. Cops used patrol cars to block off the 300 block of Mulberry Street from vehicular traffic throughout the evening.

Anyone with information about the incident is urged to call (609) 989-6406. Or use the Trenton Police Confidential Tip Line at (609) 989-3663.

This story was updated to identify the murder victim as Brian Ficzko.

Brian Ficzko

The gunshot victim who died Thursday night after crashing his vehicle in the North Ward has been identified as a suburban man who hailed from Hunterdon County.

Brian Ficzko, 40, of Flemington, crashed his car into a utility pole and another vehicle about 6 p.m. Thursday outside the Fast Trac Mini Mart along the 300 block of Mulberry Street, according to law-enforcement officials. 

Ficzko was unresponsive when police arrived on scene. The officers did not initially suspect any foul play, and medics rushed Ficzko to Capital Health Regional Medical Center in hopes of reviving him. But once at the hospital, medical professionals determined Ficzko suffered much more than motor vehicle accident injuries: He suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the chest, authorities said on Friday.

Ficzko was pronounced dead at the hospital about 6:35 p.m. Thursday, and the Mercer County Homicide Task Force since then has been actively investigating what turned out to be the latest slaying to rock the capital city.

Trenton Police investigate a homicide involving a gunshot victim who crashed his vehicle on the 300 block of Mulberry Street on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017. (SULAIMAN ABDUR-RAHMAN - The Trentonian)

The Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office on Friday did not have any more details to release in the incident. Authorities did not identify the make and model of the vehicle Ficzko was driving and did not provide any insight on why the Hunterdon County man was driving through the streets of Trenton.

Ficzko worked as an HVAC technician and graduated from Hunterdon Central Regional High School, according to his Facebook page. Public records show he has served time in jail for violating probation.

The Flemington man previously pleaded guilty in Hunterdon County Superior Court to burglarizing a Califon Borough property and stealing items in January 2008 and defrauding the administration of a drug test in May 2008.

On social media, Ficzko displayed his softer side by posting a selfie of him smiling with a kitten perched on his shoulder.

Brian Ficzko (Facebook Photo)

With less than two weeks left, so far this year, 23 people have been killed in Trenton, which includes two hit-and-run vehicular homicides.

In terms of the latest slaying, it was not immediately clear whether Ficzko was shot while driving or if he was shot prior to getting in the vehicle and attempted to drive it while wounded.

Police have not announced any arrests or suspect descriptions in the Thursday night slaying. Cops used patrol cars to block off the 300 block of Mulberry Street from vehicular traffic throughout the evening Thursday.

Anyone with information about the Ficzko murder is urged to call (609) 989-6406. Or use the Trenton Police Confidential Tip Line at (609) 989-3663.

Staff writer David Foster contributed to this report.