N.J. Sports Standout Was In And Out Of Jail; Now He's Dead

He was the kind of guy you'd find on YouTube, because he had to be. Because he was always doing something special, like climb over a bunch of guys bigger than him, carrying a basketball.

You had to be there, and to get the iPhone ready, because you knew he was going to do something extraordinary to get two more points on his way to more than 1,000.

And Keywon Savage was more than that, too, and he did stuff that didn't need a camera. He got a high enough SAT score and grade point average so he could qualify for a Division 1 scholarship.

"He should be somewhere in college now playing," Shawn McCray, Savage's coach at Central High School, told nj.com.

If only that was enough for him, because it never was. There was crime, and there was drugs. Then came the descent, first to the streets, and then to jail.

And now Keywon Savage is dead.

The former N.J. high school sports standout who has been in and out of jail died this week after he was shot over the weekend. Savage, 20, died around 1:20 p.m. Tuesday at University Hospital, according to the Essex County Prosecutor's Office.

Savage, a Newark resident, was shot on the 200 block of South 11th Street, where officers responded to reports of gunfire around 7:40 p.m. Sunday, the prosecutor's office said in a release.

Savage was killed after having what nj.com described as a promising start as a high school basketball star. But he also had what was turning into a lengthy arrest record that hindered his career.

He was considered one of Newark's top basketball players, averaging 19 points per game as a senior for Central High School, and received second-team all-state honors, according to the report.

North Carolina-Wilmington, Rider, Wagner, Central Connecticut State, among others, were recruiting him, his coaches told the publication.

Then, in February 2014, just after Savage surpassed 1,000 points for his career in a game against Verona, Savage and others were charged with the robbery of a man shoveling snow in his driveway in Union County.

He also was involved in the following incidents:

• Savage was indicted in December for possession and distribution of 104 vials of cocaine and 106 envelopes of heroin, according to the Essex County Prosecutor's Office. NJ.com reported that the case is ongoing, and he was scheduled to appear before a judge on Monday.
• Savage was charged with aggravated assault in connection with a November 2015 gunfire incident on the 200 block of South 11th Street, according to nj.com. A grand jury later declined to indict him on those offenses, and he was released from the Essex County Jail.

McCray told nj.com he had spoken to Savage recently and the coach feared his former player was still "in the streets."

"[Playing basketball] is where he's supposed to be. It's just like you get caught up and you don't know how to get out of it. You just get reeled in," he told the publication.

The fatal shooting happened just before a second incident occurred on Tuesday evening at approximately 7:48 p.m., when Newark officers were dispatched to an apartment building in the 100 block of First Street on a report of a shooting.

Arriving officers located an unresponsive male in an upper floor stairwell. The male, who was suffering from an apparent gunshot wound, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the ECPO, who added that the identity of the victim is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

Both incidents are being investigated by the Essex County Prosecutor's Major Crimes Task Force, which includes detectives from the Newark Police Department. Both investigations are active and ongoing, according to authorities.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Prosecutor's Tips Line at (877) 847-7432.

Here's a video of Savage at the 2014 AAU Summer League:

Video and photo: YouTube