🔴 NJ convict gets another 7 decades in prison
🔴 Sentence stems from the point-blank murder of a 29-year-old man
🔴 Same convict faces more time, for trying to kill another inmate
A young convict will spend the next seven decades in state prison, stemming from a murder in which he shot a man 10 times at point-blank range.
Darryl Watson was sentenced to 70 years in state prison for the February 2019 killing of 29-year-old Fred Sims.
Both men were from Newark.
Newark (Google Maps)
Watson, now 28, was sentenced to 60 years for the murder conviction — and a 10 year term to be served afterwards for possessing a firearm by a person previously convicted.
Under the No Early Release Act, he must serve 51 years – or 85% of the longer term before becoming eligible for parole.
An Essex County jury deliberated for just one hour after a six-day trial in December 2022 before convicting Watson on 10 counts: murder, unlawful possession of a firearm, two counts of possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose and six drug crimes.
In a separate trial, the jury found Watson guilty of possession of a weapon by a convicted felon — linked to a 2016 conviction for drug distribution and unlawful gun possession.
Essex County jail
🔴 Sentence stems from the point-blank murder of a 29-year-old man
Prosecutors submitted evidence that on Feb. 7, 2019, Watson was dealing cocaine and heroin near the Kretchmer Elderly public housing complex in Newark.
Video-surveillance showed him stashing drugs and a gun in the rear wheel well of a minivan — which he later removed before walking toward Sims and shooting him in the head.
Watson then stood over the man’s body and shot him 10 more times before running away.
Byad Lockett, also convicted of 2021 attempted murder of inmate (Essex County jail)
🔴 Same convict faces more time, for trying to kill another inmate
While awaiting trial for homicide, Watson faced new criminal charges for a brutal attack on another man incarcerated at Essex County jail in September 2021.
On June 14, a jury found both Watson and fellow inmate, 22-year-old Byad Lockett, guilty of attempted murder for hitting a third man in the head with a microwave, causing a traumatic brain injury.
Watson now would face additional time added to his prison terms, when sentenced in September for attempted murder conviction.
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