Township Man Found Guilty In Perth Amboy Killing

Jahmmal Cephas of Franklin Park was found guilty of the 2015 killing of a Perth Amboy man. Photo: Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.

A township man faces 30 years to life in prison following his conviction on charges related to the Valentine’s Day 2015 killing of a Perth Amboy man.

Jahmmel Cephas, 35, of Franklin Park, was found guilty of aggravated manslaughter in the shooting death of Richard Pryce, 31, outside a Perth Amboy bar, according to a Sept. 6 press release from the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.

Cephas was also convicted of unlawful possession of a handgun, possession of a firearm with a purpose to use it unlawfully against the person of another, hindering his own apprehension, and tampering with physical evidence, according to the press release.

Cephas was additionally found guilty of being a certain person prohibited from having a weapon, having been previously convicted in four separate unrelated criminal cases, including a 2004 aggravated assault case in which he pointed a handgun at and pistol whipped the victim, according to the release.

The trial began on Aug. 15 in New Brunswick. Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutors Brian Shevlin and Christopher Dize presented evidence showing Cephas shot Pryce multiple times on Amboy Avenue at the Barclay Street intersection following an argument at the 829 Lounge on Amboy Avenue on February 14, 2015, according to the release.

After being shot, Pryce returned to the bar and was taken by friends to Raritan Bay Medical Center, Perth Amboy Division, where he was pronounced dead at the hospital at 3:02 a.m., the release said.

Cephas fled with the handgun after the shooting and remained at large until he was apprehended in DeKalb County, Georgia on March 20, 2015, according to the release.

Participating in the investigation were Sgt. Sandra Rivera of the Perth Amboy Police Department, Detectives Jeffrey Temple and Kenneth Saunders, both formerly of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, and the U.S. Marshal’s Service Regional Fugitive Task Force, according to the release.

Cephas is due to be sentenced on Dec. 15 in New Brunswick, the release said.

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