Freehold Man's Killer Gets 26 Years In Prison

NEWARK, NJ — The man who shot and killed Joseph Micalizzi, a promising mechanical engineering student from Freehold during a 2016 robbery at a Newark fraternity house, has been sentenced to 26 years in prison, Essex County prosecutors announced Thursday.

Taquan Harris, 24, of Newark was sentenced for fatally shooting Micalizzi, who was a student at New Jersey Institute of Technology, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office announced Thursday. Nafee Cotman, 21, of Newark, was sentenced to 12 years for his role in the fatal robbery, prosecutors said.

Assistant Prosecutor Eric Plant said Micalizzi was "an extraordinary young man," evidenced by the fact that more than 1,400 people attended his wake. "He made an impact."

Micalizzi, who was studying mechanical engineering, was a 2011 graduate of Howell High School, where he had been enrolled in the Fine and Performing Arts Academy, according to his obituary on the Obit Tree website. Micalizzi also was a wrestler and a member of the National Honor Society. He attended Brookdale Community College before transferring to NJIT and had made the dean's list and had been inducted to the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.

According to Essex County prosecutors, Micalizzi was fatally shot when Harris and Cotman broke into the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity house on Martin Luther King Boulevard on May 2, 2016 at 3:15 a.m. with plans to rob students.

Prosecutors said Harris and Cotman went to the third floor, where Micalizzi and his roommate were studying. During a confrontation and struggle, Harris shot Micalizzi three times.
Harris and Cotman were originally charged with murder, felony murder, robbery, burglary, unlawful possession of a handgun and possession of a handgun for an unlawful purpose, prosecutors stated.

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Harris and Cotman pleaded guilty in October 2018, with Harris pleading guilty to aggravated manslaughter and illegal possession of a weapon. A murder charge against him was dismissed, prosecutors said. Cotman pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree armed robbery. All other charges against him were dismissed, prosecutors said.

According to prosecutors, prior to the shooting, Harris had one juvenile case which resulted in him being put in a diversionary program. As an adult he was arrested six times, but was never convicted. Cotman had 10 cases as a juvenile and was arrested on five occasions as an adult, but had no adult convictions, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said that prior to sentencing on Feb. 6, Harris sought to withdraw his plea, but Judge Ronald Wigler rejected the motion, saying Harris had "knowingly and voluntarily" entered his guilty plea.

Both Harris and Cotman must serve 85 percent of their respective sentences before becoming eligible for parole under the No Early Release Act. Both have already been in jail for more than 1,000 days, Plant said.

With reporting by Eric Kiefer, Patch staff

Photo of Joseph Micalizzi via YouTube / ComputerTechMaster19