Alleged Newark Taxicab Shooter Beats Murder Charges, Gets 45 Years For Robbery

NEWARK, NJ — A Newark man received a 45-year prison sentence after being convicted of committing three armed robberies and being implicated in the shooting of an Essex County taxicab driver, authorities stated.

The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office announced Tuesday that Alchane Mayes, 22, of Newark, was sentenced to 45 years in New Jersey State Prison by a Superior Court judge.

According to prosecutors, in July of 2012, Mayes and Jeshon Johnson, who was 19-years-old at the time, robbed two people then called a cab. Prosecutors charged that when Mayes and Johnson exited the cab they allegedly opened fire on the taxi driver, Rochenel Guerrier, 49, of Irvington.

Guerrier, who worked for Family Cab service in Newark, was shot twice from two different guns, prosecutors said. The father of five died several hours later at University Hospital.

Johnson previously pled guilty to robbery and aggravated manslaughter in exchange for a 28-year sentence, prosecutors said.

However, Mayes chose to go to trial, where a jury convicted him of the three robberies but found him not guilty of murder and felony murder, prosecutors stated.

Prosecutors said that under the No Early Release Act, Mayes must serve 34 years before he is eligible for parole. He has been in jail since his arrest in July of 2012.

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