TRENTON
- Attorney General Anne Milgram and Criminal
Justice Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni announced
that a Camden man was sentenced to state prison
today in connection with a December 2007 shooting
investigated by the Camden Shoot Team under
the CeaseFire program.
According
to Director Gramiccioni, Eli Holmes, 19, was
sentenced to eight years in state prison by
Superior Court Judge Thomas A. Brown Jr. He
must serve nearly seven years of the sentence
without possibility of parole under New Jersey’s
No Early Release Act. Holmes pleaded guilty
on March 16 to aggravated assault, a charge
contained in an August 2008 indictment obtained
by the Division of Criminal Justice Gangs
& Organized Crime Bureau.
In
pleading guilty, Holmes admitted he shot a
16-year-old male shortly before midnight on
Dec. 8, 2007, in the 800 block of Chelton
Avenue in Camden. The Shoot Team’s investigation
revealed that the shooting stemmed from a
drug dispute. Holmes fired several shots from
a semi-automatic handgun, hitting the victim
in the abdomen and side. The victim was taken
by private vehicle to Virtua Hospital before
police arrived and later was transferred to
Cooper University Hospital. He survived his
wounds.
The
Shoot Team was immediately dispatched to the
scene, the hospital and other locations to
investigate the shooting under the CeaseFire
program. The Shoot Team in Camden is made
up of detectives and investigators from the
New Jersey State Police, the Camden City Police
Department and the Camden County Prosecutor’s
Office.
As
a result of the rapid response, Shoot Team
members were able to obtain statements from
eyewitnesses and quickly identified Holmes
as the shooter. Holmes was arrested the next
day at his sister’s house. Soon after
the arrest, police seized the gun he used,
with two bullets in the magazine, as a relative
carried it from the sister’s house wrapped
in clothing in a baby’s car seat.
Deputy
Attorney General Kristen Harberg, assigned
to the CeaseFire program in Camden, prosecuted
the case and represented the state at the
sentencing. Attorney General Milgram also
credited the investigators on the case: Investigator
Michael Dougherty of the Camden County Prosecutor’s
Office, who was lead investigator; Detective
Joseph Loschiavo of the New Jersey State Police;
and the following officers from the Camden
City Police Department: Officer Luis Sanchez,
Detective Joe Rivera, Sgt. Frank Ruiz, Officer
Dave Richman, Officer Pascual Irizarry, and
Officer Charles Holland.
Under
the CeaseFire program, the Shoot Team in Camden
responds to all non-fatal shootings within
the city limits of Camden, conducting an intensive
investigation of each shooting as if it were
a homicide. The Camden County Prosecutor’s
Office prosecutes most of the resulting cases,
while the Division of Criminal Justice within
the Attorney General’s Office also handles
some cases.
In
addition to the law enforcement component,
the second crucial component of CeaseFire
is community outreach. Trained community outreach
workers who have familiarity and connections
with the City of Camden visit shooting victims
and witnesses and provide support and encouragement
for them to work with law enforcement. They
also sponsor various community programs aimed
at reducing violence and counteracting the
“no snitching” mentality which
has hampered law enforcement efforts to solve
crimes and make Camden safer.
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