A man responsible for a 2011 gang-related murder in Linden has been sentenced to 42 years in state prison for the crime, acting Union County Prosecutor Grace H. Park announced Friday.
Eugene Cady, 27, of Linden must serve at least 85 percent of that time before the possibility of parole, according to terms set down Friday by state Superior Court Judge Robert Kirsch.
Shortly before 11 p.m. on August 21, 2011, Linden Police Department patrol units rushed to the 900 block of Union Street to find 24-year-old Kason Wilson suffering from gunshot wounds to the head and chest, according to Union County Homicide Task Force Supervisor Michael Henn and Assistant Prosecutor Stacey Zyriek, who prosecuted the case. Wilson was pronounced dead at the scene shortly thereafter.
The homicide had been preceded by numerous gang-related shootings in Elizabeth, Linden, and Roselle that had taken place during the prior two months.
An investigation involving the Task Force, Union County Police Department Firearms Identification Unit, Union County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Unit, Linden Police Department, and Roselle Police Department revealed that the killing was the result of a simmering feud between Cady, a confirmed member of the Rollin’ 30s set of the Crips street gang based in Roselle, and Wilson, a member of the G-Shine set of the Bloods street gang based in Linden, Henn and Zyriek said.
Cady was charged with murder in January 2013 and held on $1 million bail, then indicted six months later.
A Union County jury convicted him of charges including murder and weapons offenses following 12 hours of jury deliberation spread over two days and a six-week trial before Judge Kirsch earlier this year.