A little more than a month after one of his two co-defendants was convicted by a jury in connection with the 2012 killing of a teenager in Roselle, another man charged in the case has pleaded guilty, acting Union County Prosecutor Grace H. Park announced Friday.
Derrick Dunn, 23, pleaded guilty to a single count of aggravated manslaughter in connection with the death of Damel Mitchell.
The plea was entered Thursday before state Superior Court Judge Stuart Peim.
Police were called to the Sylvester Land football field in Roselle shortly before 11 a.m. on February 20, 2012 on reports of a person having been shot, according to Union County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Sheets, who prosecuted the case.
Mitchell was pronounced dead at the scene approximately 15 minutes later, Sheets said.
A joint investigation by the Union County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Task Force and Roselle Police Department, assisted by the Union County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Unit and Union County Police Department Ballistics Unit, led to the arrests of Dunn, Corey Winston, and Nyfee Mallory two days after the shooting.
The investigation revealed that the three defendants lured the 17-year-old victim to the football field that night with the intent to rob him. As Mitchell attempted to flee, Sheets said, he was shot and killed.
Last month, following a trial lasting three weeks and jury deliberations spread over two days, Mallory, now 23, was found guilty of charges including robbery and felony murder.
Sentencing for Mallory has been scheduled for May 19, 2017, while Dunn is tentatively scheduled to be sentenced on June 16, 2017, when the State will recommend he receive a sentence of 25 years in state prison.
Winston’s case remains pending trial.