Story by Reporter Eloize
Zaki Jones, 36, of Newark was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Naji Evertt, 26, of Orange, NJ.
Struck by Jones’ conduct, Judge Leath, who presided over the trial, notes his heinousness. Jones fatally shot his victim multiple times, including in the scrotum, as the victim was crawling away to escape the attack. When shown a picture of the victim during a police interview, Jones stated, “people die all the time.”
After a month long trial, Jones was found guilty of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a weapon for an unlawufl purpose, and being a convicted felon with a weapon.
At the time of the murder, Jones was on parole after serving a 14 year sentence for carjacking. Jones’ previous record, 19 total adult arrests, the escalation of number of crimes, and the level of violence is what pushed the judge to impose an extended prison term.
“This defendant has had chance after chance to change his ways. He has continued to escalate the number of crimes he committed, and the level of violence associated with those crimes, until he got to murder. This sentence will hopefully give the Everett family some form of closure and give the citizens of West Orange relief that Zaki Jones can no longer commit a violent act while out in the community.’’ said Assistant Prosecutor Justin Edwab, who tried the case on behalf of the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.
Jones was sentenced to a life sentence and must serve at least 63 years before he is eligible for parole. Judge Leath also granted the state’s application for an extended term sentence.
