TRENTON
– Attorney General Anne Milgram announced
that a Camden County man pleaded guilty today
to shooting his girlfriend’s daughter
in the right knee.
According
to Criminal Justice Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni,
Roshon Pace, aka Roshon Fussell, 30, of Camden,
pleaded guilty before Superior Court Judge
Richard Wells in Camden County to second-degree
aggravated assault. The charge was contained
in a Feb. 20, 2008 Camden County grand jury
indictment.
In
pleading guilty, Pace admitted that on March
10, 2007, he got into a verbal argument with
his girlfriend while she was sitting in her
car outside of her house. Pace admitted that
he had a gun in his hand at the time and fired
it into the ground. The girlfriend’s
daughter, who was 22 years old at the time,
was inside her mother’s house and heard
the gunshot. She ran outside to intervene
in the fight and to help her mother. Pace
admitted that after the daughter ran out to
help her mother, he shot her once in the knee.
The victim was taken to Cooper Hospital where
she was treated and released approximately
three days later.
Judge
Wells scheduled Pace’s sentencing for
Aug. 21. The state will recommend a sentence
of seven years in state prison. Under the
No Early Release Act, Pace must serve 85%
of his sentence before becoming eligible for
parole.
New
Jersey State Police Detective Daniel DeLucia
coordinated the investigation and Deputy Attorney
General Kristen Harberg prosecuted the case
for the Division of Criminal Justice. State
Police Detective Sgt. John Day and James South
(rank?), Officer Keith James and Patrolman
Stephen Baker of the Camden Police Department,
and Investigators Valerie Hecker and Cathy
Fisher and Sergeant Aida Marcial of the Camden
County Prosecutor's Office were also part
of the investigative team.
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. Cases are handled by the Camden
County Prosecutor’s Office and the Division
of Criminal Justice.
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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