Gary Spears | Homicide Watch Trentonhttp://trenton.homicidewatch.org/suspects/gary-spears/Latest news about Gary Spearsen-usThu, 21 Sep 2017 15:21:56 -0400Co-defendants in Elvin Kimble homicide case receive prison timehttp://trenton.homicidewatch.org/2017/09/21/co-defendants-in-elvin-kimble-homicide-case-receive-prison-time/<p>Two men who played a role in the 2015 shooting death of 19-year-old Elvin Kimble have been sentenced to state prison after pleading guilty to downgraded criminal offenses.</p> <p>Originally arrested on heavy murder charges, Gary Spears, 35, of Trenton, pleaded 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.</p> <a href="http://wordpress.homicidewatch.org/trenton/files/2017/09/Gary-Spears_Jermaine-Johnson.jpg"><img class="size-large wp-image-6014" src="http://wordpress.homicidewatch.org/trenton/files/2017/09/Gary-Spears_Jermaine-Johnson-500x313.jpg" alt="Gary Spears (left) and Jermaine Johnson" width="500" height="313" srcset="http://wordpress.homicidewatch.org/trenton/files/2017/09/Gary-Spears_Jermaine-Johnson-500x313.jpg 500w, http://wordpress.homicidewatch.org/trenton/files/2017/09/Gary-Spears_Jermaine-Johnson-300x188.jpg 300w, http://wordpress.homicidewatch.org/trenton/files/2017/09/Gary-Spears_Jermaine-Johnson-768x481.jpg 768w, http://wordpress.homicidewatch.org/trenton/files/2017/09/Gary-Spears_Jermaine-Johnson-800x501.jpg 800w, http://wordpress.homicidewatch.org/trenton/files/2017/09/Gary-Spears_Jermaine-Johnson.jpg 958w" sizes="(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Gary Spears (left) and Jermaine Johnson</p> <p><span id="more-6013"></span>Kimble suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the back during the early morning hours of Nov. 24, 2015. Prior to the shooting, Kimble was seen earlier in the night allegedly breaking into Johnson’s vehicle. Johnson gave chase and Kimble allegedly fired in his direction. Johnson then recruited the help of Spears to retaliate, and Spears fired the shot that ended Kimble’s life, according to statements prosecutors previously made in the case.</p> <a href="http://wordpress.homicidewatch.org/trenton/files/2015/11/Elvin-Kimble.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-3734" src="http://wordpress.homicidewatch.org/trenton/files/2015/11/Elvin-Kimble.jpg" alt="Elvin Kimble" width="260" height="325" srcset="http://wordpress.homicidewatch.org/trenton/files/2015/11/Elvin-Kimble.jpg 260w, http://wordpress.homicidewatch.org/trenton/files/2015/11/Elvin-Kimble-240x300.jpg 240w" sizes="(max-width: 260px) 100vw, 260px" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Elvin Kimble</p> <p>On the date of the slaying, police about 12:40 a.m. responded to the area of Chestnut Avenue and Rusling Street on a report of shots fired and found evidence of a gunfight but no evidence of a homicide. Police later returned to that same area about 6:20 a.m. and then found Kimble’s dead body lying between a fence and a parked car in the city’s Chambersburg neighborhood.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>The Mercer County Homicide Task Force and a U.S. Marshals regional task force arrested Spears and Johnson on Jan. 15, 2016, charging them with first-degree murder and weapons offenses in connection with the shooting death of Kimble.</p> <p>Both men were being held at the Mercer County Correction Center on $1 million cash bail and got indicted in October 2016 on murder charges. If they had taken their case to trial and got convicted on first-degree murder, they would have been hit with 30 to 75 years in prison.</p> <p>Rather than fight the charges in a court of law, Spears and Johnson admitted their roles in the grisly retaliation slaying of Kimble.</p> <p>Spears confessed to being the triggerman responsible for Kimble’s death. He pleaded guilty to the downgraded charge of first-degree aggravated manslaughter on July 17 before Judge Robert Bingham II and had his other charges dismissed Sept. 15 after Bingham sentenced him to 10 years of incarceration.</p> <p>Johnson pleaded guilty before Judge Bingham on July 24 to a one-count accusation charging him with third-degree hindering apprehension or prosecution by giving false information to a law-enforcement officer. Bingham lowered Johnson’s bail to 10 percent of $50,000 cash bail on July 24 after Johnson pleaded guilty. Bingham eventually sentenced Johnson to five years of incarceration on Sept. 15, at which time the state dismissed the murder charges and weapons offenses against him.</p> <p>Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Tim Ward was the prosecutor in the case, Spears was represented by pool attorney George B. Somers Jr. and Johnson was represented by public defender Jessica Lyons.</p> Sulaiman Abdur-RahmanThu, 21 Sep 2017 15:21:56 -0400http://trenton.homicidewatch.org/2017/09/21/co-defendants-in-elvin-kimble-homicide-case-receive-prison-time/Elvin KimbleJermaine JohnsonGary SpearsPROSECUTORS: Two men indicted for murder of Elvin Kimblehttp://trenton.homicidewatch.org/2016/10/14/prosecutors-two-men-indicted-for-murder-of-elvin-kimble/<p>A Mercer County Grand Jury has returned indictments against two men in the murder of 19-year-old <a href="http://trenton.homicidewatch.org/victims/elvin-kimble/">Elvin Kimble</a>.<br /> The 19-year-old was gunned down on a city street in November 2015. </p> <a href="http://wordpress.homicidewatch.org/trenton/files/2015/11/Elvin-Kimble.jpg"><img src="http://wordpress.homicidewatch.org/trenton/files/2015/11/Elvin-Kimble-150x150.jpg" alt="Elvin Kimble" width="150" height="150" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-3734" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Elvin Kimble</p> <p>According to the prosecutor’s office that on November 24, 2015 around 12:39 a.m., police officers were dispatched to the area of Chestnut Avenue and Rusling Street on a report of shots fired. Officers arrived and found evidence of a shootout between at least two people on either side of Rusling Street, but did not locate a victim. </p> <p>Later, at 6:18 a.m. police were called to 112 Rusling Street after receiving a report that a resident’s vehicle was struck by gunfire. When police responded, <a href="http://trenton.homicidewatch.org/2015/11/24/police-investigate-murder-on-division-street/">a Division Street resident approached the officers to report a man lying dead between a parked car and a fence in his driveway</a>. That man was later identified as Elvin Kimble; he suffered a gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene.</p> <a href="http://wordpress.homicidewatch.org/trenton/files/2016/01/Jermaine-Johnson.jpg"><img src="http://wordpress.homicidewatch.org/trenton/files/2016/01/Jermaine-Johnson-240x300.jpg" alt="Jermaine Johnson" width="150" height="150" class="size-medium wp-image-3902" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Jermaine Johnson</p> <p>Following an investigation by Detective Nancy Diaz and the Mercer County Homicide Task Force, <a href="http://trenton.homicidewatch.org/2016/01/15/two-men-arrested-in-connection-with-elvin-kimble-homicide/">complaints were signed on January 14, 2014 charging Gary Spears and Jermaine Johnson with Kimble’s murder</a>. The pair remain in jail on $1 million bail. </p> <p>Prosecutors said that Spears, 34, of Trenton, and Johnson, 40, of Ewing, were each charged on one count of first degree murder, one count of possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and one count of second degree unlawful possession of a handgun. Spears was also indicted on one count of second degree certain person not to possess a firearm. </p> <p>The case was presented to the grand jury by Assistant Prosecutor Timothy Ward. </p> <p>In January 2015, Ward said that <a href="http://trenton.homicidewatch.org/2016/01/26/murdered-trenton-man-broke-into-suspects-car-before-being-killed-prosecutors/">an hour before Kimble was shot he was seen breaking into Johnson’s vehicle</a>. Ward said in January that according to an unnamed witness Johnson gave chase and Kimble allegedly fired in his direction. </p> <p>It is alleged that Johnson recruited the help of Gary Spears to retaliate against Kimble. At a January 2015 bail hearing prosecutors believed that Spears fired the shot that ended Kimble’s life. </p> Scott KettererFri, 14 Oct 2016 14:22:57 -0400http://trenton.homicidewatch.org/2016/10/14/prosecutors-two-men-indicted-for-murder-of-elvin-kimble/Elvin KimbleJermaine JohnsonGary SpearsMurdered Trenton man broke into suspect’s car before being killed: Prosecutorshttp://trenton.homicidewatch.org/2016/01/26/murdered-trenton-man-broke-into-suspects-car-before-being-killed-prosecutors/<a href="http://wordpress.homicidewatch.org/trenton/files/2016/01/Jermaine-Johnson.jpg"><img src="http://wordpress.homicidewatch.org/trenton/files/2016/01/Jermaine-Johnson-240x300.jpg" alt="Jermaine Johnson" width="240" height="300" class="size-medium wp-image-3902" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Jermaine Johnson</p> <p>One hour before he was killed in a gun battle on the hardscrabble streets of Trenton, Elvin Kimble and another person burglarized the vehicle of a man who is charged in his murder, prosecutors said. </p> <p>When 40-year-old Jermaine Johnson, of Ewing, gave chase, Kimble fired in his direction, Assistant Prosecutor Tim Ward said. </p> <p>This was the story provided to investigators by someone who was apparently with Kimble in the hours before his death. </p> <p>Ward described the individual as a witness and would not say whether it was the person who helped Kimble burglarize Johnson’s van. Ward also refused to say if the<br /> individual has been charged. <span id="more-3961"></span></p> <p>Prosecutors revealed at a bail hearing Tuesday that Johnson, angered over the break-in and being shot at, recruited individuals, including 33-year-old Gary Spears<br /> of Trenton, to help him retaliate against Kimble.</p> <p>A gun battle ensued near the intersection of Rusling and Chestnut, and Kimble was struck in the back. Prosecutors believe Spears fired the fatal shot.</p> <p>Kimble retreated to Division Street, where he collapsed behind a van &mdash; his tragic final resting spot. </p> <p>Police had been called Nov. 24. to the scene on a report of gunfire shortly after 12:30 a.m. and discovered numerous spent shell casings but no sign of Kimble &mdash; a<br /> critical misstep that sealed the 19-year-old’s fate.</p> <p>Kimble, wearing a ski mask and with a gun still in his hand, was found by police slumped over near a van on the 700 block of Division Street around 6:15 a.m. </p> <a href="http://wordpress.homicidewatch.org/trenton/files/2015/11/Elvin-Kimble.jpg"><img src="http://wordpress.homicidewatch.org/trenton/files/2015/11/Elvin-Kimble-240x300.jpg" alt="Elvin Kimble" width="240" height="300" class="size-medium wp-image-3734" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Elvin Kimble</p> <p>Ward said Spears was captured by surveillance footage standing next to Johnson and firing toward Kimble. </p> <p>Edward Heyburn, Johnson’s attorney, said there is no evidence on the tape his client opened fire, suggesting he was “caught up in the crossfire.” </p> <p>Prosecutors did not accuse Johnson of firing at Kimble. But like his codefendant, he is charged with weapons offenses.</p> <p>“He wasn’t involved in a shootout,” Heyburn said. “He just happened to be present.”</p> <p>Each suspect was ordered held on $1 million bail following hearings before Superior Court Judge Timothy Lydon, in part because of their past scrapes with the law.</p> <p>Heyburn conceded his client has a “troubled past,” but said he has “paid his debts to society” following stints in prison on convictions for drugs, guns, witness tampering and theft.</p> <p>Spears, the accused triggerman, also has numerous drug convictions and was on probation for a contempt conviction at the time of Kimble’s murder, prosecutors said.</p> <p>Spears’ attorney, Laura Yaede, questioned the quality and accuracy of surveillance footage prosecutors said captured her client opening fire on Kimble.</p> <p>Ward said his office has another dagger for evidence: The defendant acknowledged shooting at Kimble and pointed himself out on film.</p> <p>The tape, Ward said, “is clear enough that Mr. Spears identified himself.”</p> Isaac AviluceaTue, 26 Jan 2016 11:13:40 -0500http://trenton.homicidewatch.org/2016/01/26/murdered-trenton-man-broke-into-suspects-car-before-being-killed-prosecutors/Elvin KimbleJermaine JohnsonGary Spears