By: Richard L. Smith
Essex County officials reported that Superior Court Judge Ronald Wigler sentenced Darryl Watson to 70 years in state prison for murdering Fred Sims, 29, of Newark, in February 2019.
According to Essex County Prosecutor’s Office Spokesman Robert Florida, Watson, now 28, of Newark, was sentenced to 60 years for the murder conviction, subject to the No Early Release Act.
He must serve 85 percent of that sentence before being eligible for parole.
The court also sentenced Watson to a consecutive term of 10 years in New Jersey State Prison for possessing a firearm by a person who has previously been convicted.
Assistant Prosecutors Brian Matthews and Victoria Saraiva, who tried the case in December 2022, applauded the sentence, noting it reflected both the severity of the crimes and the danger Watson represented to the community.
On December 9, 2022, following a six-day trial before Judge Wigler, an Essex County jury deliberated for an hour before convicting Watson of 10 counts: one count of murder, two counts of possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose, one count of unlawful possession of a firearm, and six drug crimes. In a separate trial following the murder conviction, the jury found Watson guilty of possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.
That related to a conviction he had in 2016 for distribution of drugs and unlawful gun possession.
The evidence at the main trial showed that on February 7, 2019, Watson was distributing cocaine and heroin near the Kretchmer Elderly public housing complex in Newark.
Video surveillance captured him stashing the drugs and a firearm in the rear wheel well of a minivan.
Watson later retrieved the gun from the van, walked toward Sims, and shot him in the head. Watson stood over Sims’ body and shot him 10 more times, then fled.
On September 23, 2021, while awaiting trial for the Sims’ homicide, Watson was charged with attempted murder for striking a fellow inmate in the head with a microwave at the Essex County jail.
On June 14, 2023, a jury found Watson guilty of attempted murder of the inmate.
Sentencing for the attempted murder conviction is scheduled for September 2023.