The remaining two of three defendants charged in connection with the fatal shooting of a Roselle teenager during a robbery gone wrong nearly six years ago have been sentenced for the crime, acting Union County Prosecutor Thomas K. Isenhour announced Friday.
Authorities sentenced Derrick Dunn, 23, to 25 years in state prison while Corey Winston, 23, was sentenced to 18 years for their roles in the death of 17-year-old Damel Mitchell. Eighty-five percent of both sentences must be served before the possibility of parole under the terms of New Jersey’s No Early Release Act.
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, a Roselle resident, 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 arrest of Dunn, Winston, and 24-year-old Nyfee Mallory two days after the shooting.
The investigation revealed that the three defendants lured the 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.
Authorities have charged including robbery and felony murder and later sentenced to a term of 35 years in state prison. Dunn pleaded guilty to a charge of aggravated manslaughter the next month, and Winston did the same two months later.