A Union County grand jury has returned a three-count indictment against the local man charged with shooting a Plainfield resident to death earlier this year, acting Union County Prosecutor Lyndsay V. Ruotolo announced Wednesday.
Officials say Mr. Djuan Gamble, 26, is charged with first-degree murder and two related second-degree weapons offenses in connection with the death of 32-year-old Jaquan Heyward of Plainfield.
Plainfield Police Division patrol units responding to a report of a shooting in the courtyard area of the Liberty Village housing complex at approximately 8:20 p.m. on Sunday, May 26, found Heyward at that location, having sustained multiple gunshot wounds, according to Union County Assistant Prosecutor Armando Suarez, who is prosecuting the case. Heyward was transported to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, where he was pronounced dead a little less than an hour later, Suarez said.
A joint investigation by the Union County Homicide Task Force, Plainfield Police Division, Union County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Unit, and Union County Police Department Ballistics Unit, resulted in Gamble being identified as a suspect, and criminal charges were filed against him on Wednesday, June 12.
A three-week search involving local and federal authorities ensued, and Gamble was arrested by members of the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force at a relative’s home in Baltimore, Maryland on Wednesday, July 3.
Anyone with information about this matter still is being urged to contact Task Force Detective Matt Casterline at 908-418-2817 or Sgt. Johnny Ho at 908-403-8271.
Convictions on criminal charges of this nature are commonly punishable by terms of 30 years to life in state prison.
These criminal charges are mere accusations. Every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.