Mercer Man Sentenced To Life In Prison For Fatal 2019 Shooting

MERCER COUNTY, NJ — A Mercer County man was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the May 2019 murder of Maurice Rowe, Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo J. Onofri said Tuesday.

Hamilton Morgan of Trenton was sentenced by Mercer County Superior Court Judge Darlene Pereksta on Feb. 17, Onofri said.

A jury found Morgan guilty of all counts in August 2021. After the conviction, the state moved for mandatory extended-term sentencing under New Jersey’s Three Strikes Law. Judge Pereksta also sentenced Morgan to concurrent terms of 10 years on the firearms possession charge and the certain persons not to possess a weapon charge, Onofri said.

A little after 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 7, 2019, a Trenton Police Street Crimes Unit was responding to an unrelated call on Hoffman Avenue when they heard shots fired.

Detectives John Carrigg and Stephen Szbanz saw a large group of people at the corner of Stuyvesant and Hoffman avenues and the suspect, later identified as Morgan, fleeing the scene with a gun, Onofri said.

The detectives chased Morgan on foot down an alley and were able to take him into custody on Ellsworth Avenue. A handgun and an additional loaded magazine was found on Morgan, Onofri said

The victim was later identified as Maurice Rowe, 30, of Trenton. He was shot multiple times and pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.

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