Updated: An Ocean County jury today convicted Jahmell Crockam of the cold-blooded murder last year of Lakewood Police Officer Christopher Matlosz, the first law enforcement officer gunned down in the line of duty in Ocean County.
The jury forewoman announced the verdict about ten minutes ago in a courtroom crowded with the 27-year-old officer’s family and friends.
The panel began its deliberations about 2 p.m. Wednesday.
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.
{AP, Asbury Park Press/Matzav.com Newscenter}
