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Violent ‘Get Money Boys’ street gang charged in slaying of ‘Murder Mike’ »
TRENTON » Justice for “Murder Mike.”
Sixteen members of the Trenton-based “Get Money Boys” were arrested and hit with first-degree charges, linked to the murder of former homicide witness Michael “Murder Mike” Barnes, who was killed last year.
Members were also involved in an attempted murder of a police officer that happened in February, Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said Tuesday.
His office, with help from investigators throughout the region, also connected the group to several shootings and drug trafficking.
Mayor Reed Gusciora called the takedown of the GMB gang — announced ahead of Grewal’s town hall on gun violence in Trenton — a “big win” in the fight against violence.
Already, the capital city has had 15 murders not halfway through the year, putting it on pace for 30 homicides in what could become Trenton’s third-deadliest year on record.
“[Residents] should know the city is cooperating not only with the county but with the state to go after the worst criminals in the city. We are making every effort. This was one of the continuing operations that kept me up at night but paid off. Any time we get the bad guys off the street and take away the guns, that’s a big win for Trenton.”
Charles Willis, 27, the leader of the alleged violent street gang, and 15 others are charged with first-degree racketeering.
Willis, who is accused of recruiting minors to join his street gang, and 10 GMB members were also charged with crimes ranging from murder to conspiracy to commit murder.
Willis’ father, Charles J. Willis, 49, of Lawrence, was hit with racketeering and drug offenses.
Patrick Callahan, superintendent of the state police, said the Willis-led GMB tore apart the capital city by “actively recruiting impressionable young people” to commit some of the atrocities.
Barnes was shot in the face Dec. 27, on the 200 block of Commonwealth Avenue.
Charged with having a role in his murder are: Willis, Davion Fenderson, 25, Shaiquan Hearns, 21, Bobby Hood, 28 and Jayshawn Fisher, 26.
Fenderson is charged with murder while the others face counts of conspiracy to commit murder, Grewal said.
Authorities said Willis and other GMB members specifically targeted Barnes, who once testified in the murder trial of Keith Wells-Holmes.
Willis is accused of threatening Barnes’ life on social media and ordering the hit on Barnes, who survived several previous attempts on his life over the years. Fenderson is the accused triggerman.
Before he was killed, the victim Barnes had been convicted of drug dealing and aggravated assault, among other things.
He was one of several people charged in 2012 as part of Operation Gravedigger, an investigation by state and city police into weapon sales near funeral homes. Barnes admitted selling a handgun.
Barnes earned the nickname “Murder Mike” from his time in the Sex, Money, Murder set of the Bloods street gang.
He was a crucial witness for Mercer County prosecutors in the murder trial of Wells-Holmes, who was acquitted of gunning down Andre Corbett in January 2013 outside of an Oakland Street housing complex.
Barnes was a formidable witness on the stand, involved in several terse exchanges with Wells-Holmes’ defense lawyer Caroline Turner, who dismissed him as a “jailhouse snitch.”
During dramatic testimony, Barnes, who admitted his past meant he was “no angel,” picked out Wells-Holmes as the killer.
“Him,” he said, pointing toward Wells-Holmes. “I’m 100 percent sure.”
During the murder trial, Barnes was escorted by a heavy police detail in and out of court each day, meant to protect him after an apparent attempt on his life.
Willis was arrested at his Willingboro home June 2, along with girlfriend, Daysha M. Brown, 24.
Detectives seized a defaced firearm with an illegal high-capacity magazine, which was “within access” of a toddler who lived there.
Willis and Brown were hit with second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, fourth-degree possession of a defaced firearm, and fourth-degree possession of a large capacity magazine.
Willis also was charged with possessing a gun as a convicted felon.
The street gang was linked to other shootings in Trenton over the last 10 months.
The authorities said the violence was waged in the name of heroin and cocaine trafficking. with the “Get Money Boys” running much of the operation out of the Oakland Street apartments.
“Gang violence has taken the lives of too many young people in Trenton, and the Get Money Boys have been a major contributor to that violence,” Grewal said. “We will continue doing everything we can to make our capital city safe for its residents. But we also know that arrests alone won’t stop the cycle of gang involvement, violence, and incarceration. That is why we plan to work closely with the community in the coming months to develop programs that have the power to turn young people away from the false glamour of gang life and show them a healthy and positive path forward.”
Hearns faces an attempted murder rap for allegedly shooting a man in the leg in the early morning of Sept. 17 on Lamberton Street.
GMB members were also allegedly involved in the Feb. 20 attempted killing of a police officer.
Hearns, Dion Battle, 28, and Yahonatan Salter, 28, were charged with Feb. 12 with attempted murder for allegedly shooting at a Hamilton Township Police officer, assigned to the State Police Crime Suppression Central Unit Task Force, who interrupted a shooting near West State and Parkside Avenue.
The officer, who was in an unmarked vehicle, came under fire during a car chase with the shooting suspects but wasn’t injured.
The chase ended at the Oakland Park Apartments on Coolidge Avenue, where Hearns, Battle, Salter and Willis — now charged with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder for trying to snuff out the two men who crashed their car — allegedly opened fire on the cop, authorities said.
Authorities seized three guns during the investigation. Armed with a warrant on May 31, detectives stormed a storage unit in Hamilton, where they discovered 254 bricks of heroin, enough for about 12,700 doses stamped “Dope Dick” and “Fruit Loops.”
The storage unit was rented by Briana Blue, 22, of Princeton. She’s charged with racketeering, drug possession with intent to distribute conspiracy to distribute drugs,
The same day, detectives seized another 130 heroin bricks with the same stamps from a car rented to
Tre Whetstone, 26, of Trenton. In addition to racketeering, he’s charged with drug offenses.
Grewal’s office also linked five GMB members to a May 1 shooting on Sanhican Drive.
Willis, Hood, David Williams, 28, Shawn Anderson, 21 and Zaire Jackson, 24 face charges of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder in that shooting.
“Through this collaborative investigation, we charged 16 alleged members and associates of this violent gang with first-degree charges carrying lengthy prison sentences,” said Veronica Allende, director of the Division of Criminal Justice. “Each time we take down a dangerous gang like this one, we make Trenton safer for residents and for the law enforcement officers who work heroically every day to protect them.”
Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo Onofri said the street gangsters threatened the capital city’s “hardworking, law-abiding citizens with their guns and drugs for too long.”
“My office will continue to work with state and local law enforcement to arrest and prosecute those assaulting our cities with acts of violence,” he said.
Authorities also announced a range of charges against the following GMB members and associates: Frederick Eustsey, 45, of Ewing; John Colvin, 23, of Trenton; and a 17-year-old boy from Trenton.
The unnamed teen was allegedly involved in the May 1 shooting on Sanhican Drive.
Willis, Hearns, Salter, Battle, Colvin, and Fisher were served with the charges in jail while the remaining suspects were picked up starting June 5, authorities said.