Two Men Sentenced To Combined 95-Year Term For 2011 Fatal Shooting In Union County

Two men have been sentence to served a combined 95 years in state prison for the 2011 fatal shooting of a 32-year-old Elizabeth man.

Jamil Hearns, who was 32 at the time of the shooting of Donnell Johnson, was sentenced to 45 years and Joey Fowler, who was 33, was sentenced to 50 years by state Superior Court Judge Stuart Peim.

Each man will have to serve at least 85 percent of their terms before they are eligible for parole.

According to the Union County Prosecutor’s Office:

• It was approximately 2:45 a.m. on March 5, 2011 when shots rang out near the AllStar Nightclub in the area of Court and 3rd streets in Elizabeth, according to Union County Assistant Prosecutor Albert Cernadas Jr., who prosecuted the case.

• Elizabeth Police Department Detective Jim Malone was on patrol in the vicinity and arrived at the shooting scene within seconds, pulling over the vehicle in which Hearns and Fowler were traveling and recovering the handgun that was used in the shooting, Cernadas said.

• Johnson was rushed to a local hospital but died shortly thereafter, and a swift-moving joint investigation involving the Elizabeth Police Department and the Union County Homicide Task Force led to charges being filed against Hearns and Fowler.

• The investigation determined that the fatal shooting of Johnson was carried out in retaliation following a January 2011 physical altercation between Johnson, Fowler, and several other men.