A 26-year-old man who served prison time in connection with a 2017 murder was tracked down in Florida and charged with the murder of a 34-year-old in Jersey City late last year.
Zafarri Francis, 26, of Jersey City, is also charged with charged with unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and receiving stolen property in the Dec. 8 death of Dushawn Bell, of Elizabeth on Fairview Avenue, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez announced Friday.
Francis was arrested in Ocala, Florida Wednesday by members of the United States Marshals Service Florida Fugitive Task Force and was transported to the Marion County jail, where he will await extradition to New Jersey.
Police responded to the shooting at 11:20 p.m. and found Bell with apparent gunshot wounds. He was transported to Jersey City Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead the following morning.
In late August 2017, Francis was one of four people arrested in the Aug. 13, 2017 fatal shooting of Jaharee Broadway, 19, of Jersey City. Francis was 18 at the and the other three ― Devon Statan, Khalil Vance and Raymont Rogers ― were 17 at the time.
Francis pleaded guilty to second-degree aggravated assault and was sentenced to five years in prison. Statan and Vance also pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and each served four years. Rogers pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter and was sentenced to 10 years.
Some 12 years earlier Bell was shot in Jersey City, and was charged in that case. Bell, 22 at the time, was one of two people shot on Randolph Avenue on Sept. 9, 2012. He was charged with hindering the apprehension of the gunman, police said at the time.
Suarez credited the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Unit and the Jersey City Police Department with the investigation.