New Jersey – A jury convicted Jahmell Crockham for the murder of Lakewood police officer, Christopher Matlosz.
Officer Matlosz was the first to be gunned down in the line of duty in Ocean County.
Assistant Ocean County prosecutors William J. Heisler and Michael Weatherstone argued at trial that Crockam, 20, of Edgewood Drive, Lakewood shot Matlosz three times at close range in front of three eyewitnesses on August Drive in Lakewood shortly after 4 p.m. on Jan. 14, 2011. They argued that Crockam committed the murder to elude being arrested on warrants that had been issued for him in unrelated cases.
The trial, before Superior Court Judge Wendel E. Daniels, started on Feb. 1.
Crockam, who denied the shooting, did not testify. Defense attorney Mark Fury did not call any witnesses.
The defendant faces life in prison without parole.
