Judge orders detention of Paterson murder suspect caught in Middlesex County
By Jonathan Greene
Published: July 12, 2021
A Paterson murder suspect caught in Middlesex County has been ordered detained in jail pending trial.
Naszhere M. Jones, 22-year-old, of South Hackensack, charged with murder, weapons offenses, and numerous drug offenses, was ordered detained on Friday.
Jones allegedly killed 35-year-old Jaquan Harrison on North 6th and Clinton streets in Paterson on March 3. Harrison was found shot inside a building in the area. He was taken to a hospital, but died from his injuries four days later.
Jones remained on the run until July 2, when authorities caught up with him in Old Bridge. Jones appeared virtually from the Passaic County Jail for a detention hearing on Friday.
Senior assistant Passaic County prosecutor Jorge Morales played a video in court that does not show the actual shooting, but a gunshot can be heard and some men narrating Jones’s role in the murder.
Jones is identified by the men as “Nas.”
“He killed him, bro,” one man is heard speaking to another inside a vehicle. “He hit him in the head.” He asserts people in Nas’s generation are “reckless,” “ignorant,” and quick to shed blood.
Jones and Harrison had some sort of a disagreement that led to the shooting, according to authorities.
Morales argued the court should order Jones’s detention pending the resolution of the murder charges.
Jones’s attorney Krenar Camili argued for his client’s release.
Passaic County judge Justine Niccollai relied on seven criteria, including danger to the community, to order Jones’s detention. He is a danger to the community, she said.
“It is out of control in Paterson right now with the gun violence and the shootings,” Niccollai said. “It’s senseless what’s going on out here. It’s completely senseless.”
Paterson has witnessed a record number of shootings in 2021.
Jones allegedly committed the murder while out on pretrial monitoring. He repeatedly failed to report. He has juvenile record for theft, drug dealing, and robbery. He also allegedly committed drug offenses as an adult.
Jones could face life in prison if convicted.