A Union County jury has returned guilty verdicts against two Elizabeth men involved in the December 2014 shooting death of 25-year-old Bilal Fullman of Woodbridge, acting Union County Prosecutor Michael A. Monahan announced Thursday.
After a half-day of deliberation, following a three-month trial before state Superior Court Judge William A. Daniel, the jury found Gregory Torres, 23, guilty on charges of first-degree murder, second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, and found 25 year-old Firicin Augustin guilty of second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, Monahan said.
According to police, at approximately 8:30 p.m. on December 12, 2014, Fullman was gunned down in the first-floor hallway of a building in the Oakwood Plaza Housing complex on Parker Road, according to Union County Assistant Prosecutors Colleen Ruppert and Christina Fay, who prosecuted the case.
An investigation involving the Prosecutor’s Office and the Elizabeth Police Department determined that the men cornered Fullman, with whom they had a dispute, in the hallway, and he was shot eight times. After the murder, Torres fled Elizabeth and was captured in Virginia over two months later, Ruppert and Fay revealed. Additionally, during the trial Prosecutors elicited testimony from witnesses, that Torres had made known his intention to kill Fullman and, after the murder, admitted his involvement to several others.
Sentencing in the case has been scheduled for June 8, 2018 before Judge Daniel.
At that time Torres will face a sentence of 30 years to life, and Augustin a possible extended prison term of 10 to 20 years in state prison due to prior convictions.