Monmouth County Man Gunned Down Man In 2006, Prosecutor Says

A Long Branch man has been charged with murder and weapons offenses, accused of gunning down an Asbury Park man in 2006, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni announced Wednesday.

Joey Johnson, 35, was arrested Tuesday, Dec. 1, at his job in Freehold Township by detectives from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the Asbury Park Police Department, with assistance from law enforcement officers for the New Jersey State Parole Board, said Charles Webster, spokesman for the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.

Johnson is charged in the March 26, 2006 murder of 21-year-old Jakeema Kelly, of Asbury Park, who was found fatally shot on Dewitt Avenue in Asbury Park. He is facing charges of first-degree murder, second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and second-degree certain persons not to possess weapons. He is being held in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution, Freehold Township, on $1.2 million cash-only bail, as set by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Honora O’Brien Kilgallen.

Johnson’s first appearance in court is scheduled for Wednesday.

“The arrest of Joey Johnson is a testament to the hard work and perseverance of the detectives who relentlessly pursued this investigation. Over the course of time, these dedicated law enforcement officers ensured the person responsible for Jakeema Kelly’s murder would be brought to justice. This Office and our local law enforcement partners will continue to vigorously pursue all leads in these cases despite the passage of time,” Gramiccioni said.

Asbury Park police officers were called to 115 Dewitt Ave. at 8:24 p.m. on March 26, 2006, on a report of a gunshot victim lying on the ground. Police found Kelly lying on the sidewalk near the entrance to the Westside Community Center’s administration building. He was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune, where he was pronounced dead at 9:21 p.m.

If convicted of murder, Johnson faces a minimum sentence of 30 years in prison without parole, and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment; subject to the provisions of the “No Early Release Act” requiring him to serve 85 percent of any sentence imposed in excess of 30 years before becoming eligible for release on parole. He would also be under parole supervision for five years if he gains release from state prison.

If convicted of possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose, Johnson faces up to 10 years in prison, and up to 42 months of parole ineligibility, whichever is greater. A conviction on the certain persons not to possess weapons charge carries up to 10 years in prison with a five-year mandatory period of parole ineligibility.