Wilson George | Homicide Watch Trenton

3 killers get 15 years for gunning down Trenton teen

Sulaiman Abdur-Rahman — Thu, 06 Sep 2018 20:37:02 -0400

(left to right) Wilson George, Jashawn Smith and Juprie Wadley

Case closed!

The three men who shot and killed 15-year-old Maurice Wimbush-Jalaah at a West Ward housing complex in 2016 have each been sentenced to 15 years of state incarceration.

Juprie Wadley, 21; Wilson George, 21; and Jashawn Smith, 20, have all pleaded guilty in the case. They confessed June 25 to first-degree aggravated manslaughter, admitting they gunned Wimbush-Jalaah down at Prospect Village during the afternoon of June 11, 2016. The victim later died at the hospital from his life-threatening injuries.

Maurice Wimbush-Jalaah (submitted photo)

Police apprehended all three killers almost immediately following the daylight slaying, but George was initially released because he was not in possession of a gun at the time he was stopped. Smith and Wadley allegedly had weapons with them when police apprehended the trio on Louise Lane following the fatal shooting. Another gun was found on the ground on Louise Lane, and police later charged George with weapons offenses for allegedly tossing it before his apprehension.

A 2017 indictment charged all three co-defendants with first-degree murder and second-degree weapons offenses, but the judge dismissed those counts at sentencing in accordance with the manslaughter plea agreement.

Mercer County Superior Court Judge Robert Billmeier sentenced the trio to 15 years of state imprisonment last Friday, ordering each defendant to serve 85 percent of the maximum term behind bars before being paroled, according to his judgments of conviction. All three co-defendants upon release will be subjected to five years of parole supervision.

The three co-defendants have each been ordered to provide a DNA sample as convicted felons and were collectively ordered to jointly pay $5,000 in restitution. The state has requested additional restitution of $2,355 on behalf of Shanell Wimbush, the victim’s mother. The judge did not immediately decide whether the additional restitution would be levied, keeping the matter open for 30 days, according to the judgments of conviction.

Smith had no history of delinquency or criminal activity before killing Wimbush-Jalaah. But his partners in crime have other Superior Court convictions on their records in addition to the manslaughter conviction.

George has been incarcerated in state prison since July 2017 for selling drugs in Mercer County in 2015 and 2016 before becoming a self-confessed killer. He previously pleaded guilty in three separate drug distribution cases and got sentenced to four years of imprisonment last year. Now George is scheduled to be released from the Garden State Youth Correctional Facility on May 8, 2030, due to his concurrent 15-year prison sentence in the slaying of Wimbush-Jalaah, according to the New Jersey Department of Corrections. George has been awarded 388 days of jail credit in the homicide case and was represented by private attorney Mark Fury at last week’s sentencing.

In addition to pleading guilty to manslaughter, Wadley on June 25 also admitted he distributed drugs in Mercer County on Dec. 7, 2016. He got sentenced to five years of incarceration in the drug case to run concurrent to his 15-year manslaughter sentence, court records show. Wadley has been awarded 625 days of jail credit in the homicide case and was represented by defense attorney Christopher Campbell at last week’s sentencing.

Smith received 635 days of jail credit in the homicide case. He was represented by private attorney Mark G. Davis at last Friday’s sentencing hearing.

In his judgments of conviction, Billmeier said the manslaughter plea agreement for all three co-defendants “appears to be fair and in the interest of justice.” Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Kathleen Petrucci represented the state of New Jersey at the trio’s sentencing hearing.

Prosecutors: Guns link suspects to teen's murder in Prospect Village

Isaac Avilucea — Fri, 09 Dec 2016 12:21:47 -0500

A blaze of bullets and shell casings scattered in the street were linked to the murder of 15-year-old city teen found slumped over in the streets, soaked in blood almost exactly six months ago, prosecutors said.

(left to right) Wilson George, Jayshawn Smith and Juprie Wadley

It took detectives time to take in the murderous scene they encountered when they arrived in Prospect Village, in the city’s West Ward, in broad daylight June 11.

The victim, Maurice Wimbush-Jalaah, was fatally shot in a volley of bullets during a gun battle, prosecutors said.

Three city teens, Wilson George, Jashawn Smith and Juprie Wadley, were charged six months later with the teen’s slaying.

Smith and Wadley appeared in court Friday for a bail hearing.

Assistant Prosecutor William Fisher, laying out the ““extremely strong circumstantial case,” said authorities recovered three handguns, bullets and shell casings linking the teen suspects to the killing.

The three are charged with murder, conspiracy and weapons offenses.

George had been allowed to walk in June after police didn’t find a gun on him.

He later charged for allegedly tossing a handgun before he was apprehended with the others on Louise Lane, the same spot where cops shot city teen Radazz Hearns last year.

The two teens, who don’t have prior criminal records, were charged with murder after police wrapped up the investigation, including getting ballistics back from the state police crime lab.

Maurice Wimbush-Jalaah (submitted photo)

Police recovered six bullets and eight shell casings in June that matched to recovered handguns, Fisher said.

Prosecutors didn’t disclose a motive but detectives who spoke on condition of anonymity said street hustlers from Prospect Village have been “beefing” with hustlers from the North 25 Housing complex.

The apartment complexes are less than a 15-minute walk from each other.

Smith appeared calm as he listened by video to the prosecutor outline the allegations against him, sitting inside a small, boxy room at the Mercer County Correction Center.

He is accused of running from the police when as he and his associates left the Prospect Village housing complex.

Officers spotted the teens fleeing down the sidewalk, three blocks from the shooting, and ordered them to stop at gunpoint.

George and Wadley got on the ground while Smith bolted.

While being chased by the cops, he dropped a sweatshirt and a 9 mm Smith & Wesson handgun, Fisher said. He was tracked down and charged.

Wadley was patted down and found with a .22-caliber revolver with two fired shell casings in the chamber, Fisher said.

Police canvassed the scene again and found a .32-caliber gun near the back of a parked Lexus where Smith dropped his sweatshirt, Fisher said.

The eight spent shells in the street came from the same gun, Fisher said.

“The only bullets that were traceable were traceable back to these guns,” Fisher said.

Smith admitted in an interview with the police firing three shots toward a crowd of people, prosecutors said.

Wadley denied he was at Prospect Village but later changed his story, admitting he was there and ran when he heard shots but didn’t see who fired them.

George didn’t appear for a bail hearing and whatever he may have told the authorities wasn’t addressed.

The prosecutor said surveillance showed the three teens heading toward the area of the shooting and leaving from it.

A judge maintained bail at $1 million for the two teens. George’s bail hearing is set for a later date.

-Penny Ray contributed to this report

Teen trio charged with June murder in Trenton

Penny Ray — Wed, 07 Dec 2016 15:39:11 -0500

(left to right) Wilson George, Jayshawn Smith and Juprie Wadley

Three city teens who were arrested earlier this year after another teen was killed in the capital city have been charged with murder in connection with the case.

Wilson George, Jashawn Smith and Juprie Wadley are each charged with murder and complicity offenses in connection with the shooting death of 15-year-old Maurice Wimbush-Jalaah, who was gunned down June 11.

Police apprehended all three suspects almost immediately following the daylight killing, but George was released because he was not in possession of a gun at the time he was stopped. Smith and Wadley allegedly had weapons with them when police apprehended the trio on Louise Lane following the fatal shooting. Another gun was found on the ground on Louise Lane, and police later charged George with weapons offenses for allegedly tossing it before his apprehension.

Wimbush-Jalaah was shot around 3:45 p.m. that Saturday in Prospect Village, which is a Trenton Housing Authority complex. He later died at the hospital.

At this time, police have not disclosed a suspected motive for the killing, but detectives who spoke on condition of anonymity said street hustlers from Prospect Village have been “beefing” with hustlers from the North 25 Housing complex for a while. The apartment complexes are less than a 15-minute walk from each other, and pedestrians would more than likely cross Calhoun Street, which intersects with Louise Lane, if they were to walk from one complex to the other.

George has been incarcerated since June. Smith and Wadley were arrested again Wednesday morning in Trenton by members of the U.S. Marshals NY/NJ Regional Fugitive Task Force.

Bail for each teen was set at $1 million cash or bond.