NEW JERSEY — A prison inmate in New Jersey who was released from custody early due to the coronavirus pandemic has been charged with murdering a teenager merely two days after regaining his freedom.
Jerry Crawford has been charged with murder in the shooting death of Davion Scarbrough, 18, who was gunned down in Bridgeton on Nov. 6. The accused killer was granted early release two days prior from South Woods State Prison, NJ.com reported.
Crawford, 25, had been serving time for burglary when he was granted early release on “public health emergency credits” to parole supervision on Nov. 4, prison officials confirmed to the news outlet Wednesday. He was charged alongside Yusuf Waites who had also been released from incarceration less than a month before the homicide.
However, Waites, 23, had reportedly completed his sentence for a weapons violation, New York Post reported.
Crawford and Waites were reportedly captured on surveillance video with Scarbrough shortly before the decedent’s body was found riddled with bullets, NJ.com reported, citing court documents.
Although Crawford wasn’t charged with the murder until last month, he was already back in custody on gun and theft charges, the news organization reported. Regardless, those charges have subsequently been dismissed.
Now, both men have been indicted on new charges, which include first-degree murder and first-degree conspiracy to commit murder due to Scarbrough’s fatal shooting.
According to NJ.com, Waites was also indicted for attempting to kill two other men in a broad criminal complaint involving eight additional defendants, another killing, a drive-by shooting and a daytime gun battle.
