Jury convicts Trenton gunman on most charges in 2014 gas station shooting
TRENTON » A Trenton gunman who accused prosecutors of “trying to railroad me” has been convicted on armed robbery and aggravated assault charges for shooting a city man outside a gas station in 2014.
Stephen Copeland, 29, was found not guilty Wednesday of his heaviest charge — attempted murder — but his conviction on the other criminal offenses means he could get hit with a concurrent 20-year prison sentence.
Copeland pulled out a handgun and fired five shots at Ralph “Jabar” Anderson at point-blank range on Jan. 18, 2014. Four of the shots struck Anderson outside the Shell gas station mini mart at the corner of Greenwood Avenue and Chambers Street in Trenton, wounding him in his left arm and left flank area.
Copeland reached into the victim’s pockets and removed items after the shooting and then fled. A U.S. Marshals regional fugitive task force ended up arresting Copeland 10 days later at his Trenton residence.
The shooting incident was captured on surveillance video and the victim, who is now paralyzed from the waist down as a result of the shooting, testified at trial that Copeland was responsible. The evidence prosecutors presented at Copeland’s attempted murder trial left the 12-member jury firmly convinced he shot and wounded Anderson during the course of a robbery but unconvinced he had the specific intent to kill the victim.
During a court appearance in April, Copeland cussed out Mercer County Superior Court Judge Peter Warshaw and denied the allegations against him, saying, “I did not shoot that dude” and alleging that prosecutors “are going to keep railroading me” if Warshaw did not step in and intercede on Copeland’s behalf.
Copeland’s legal defense team argued unsuccessfully to get the indictment dismissed, and the case proceeded to trial earlier this month.
A jury of Copeland’s peers on Wednesday convicted him of second-degree aggravated assault, first-degree robbery, second-degree possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose, and second-degree unlawful possession of a handgun and acquitted him of first-degree attempted murder.
The trial was overseen by Mercer County Superior Court Judge Andrew Smithson. Copeland was represented by defense attorney Edward J. Hesketh, and Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Joseph Paravecchia prosecuted the case on behalf of the state.