The jury selection process recently started in the trial of a Newark man charged with first degree murder for a killing in Newark, New Jersey.
According to Essex County prosecutors, the 28-year-old suspect committed the fatal shooting at an IHOP restaurant located on Bergen Street in Newark.
The incident occurred during the early morning hours on March 23, 2013.
The homicide left the 30-year-old IHOP manager with gunshot wounds that proved to be fatal. The victim was from Middlesex Borough.
The shooting also left two other individuals with serious injuries.
The shooting stemmed from an altercation between two groups of people at the restaurant. One group reportedly got into an altercation with another group, which consisted entirely of females. At some point, a couple of individuals in each group began to fight.
The suspect was allegedly wearing a hoodie when he walked into the IHOP and challenged a man in one of the groups.
When the IHOP manager attempted to step in and help other customers leave the restaurant, he was reportedly shot and killed by the suspect. The victim, a Senegalese immigrant, was reportedly caught in the gunfire and sustained a fatal bullet wound to the head.
Emergency responders quickly arrived at the scene and rushed the victim to nearby University Hospital. Tragically, doctors were unable to save him; he was pronounced dead at the medical facility a few hours after the shooting incident.
Newark law enforcement conducted an investigation and obtained surveillance camera footage that reportedly showed the suspect fleeing the scene.
The suspect was arrested in 2014 and charged with a number of crimes, including murder, attempted murder, witness tampering, and various weapons offenses.
Now attorneys on both sides have begun selecting jurors for the murder trial. The trial is set to occur in Essex County Superior Court in Newark, NJ.
While the trial is occurring, the suspect will be held at the Essex County Correctional Facility in lieu of a massive $1 million bail amount.
To learn more about this case, view the NJ.com article entitled “Newark Man to Face Trial in Killing of IHOP Manager.”
