MAYS LANDING- An 18-year-old Pleasantville man pleaded guilty on Thursday in the fatal July shooting of Naimah Bell, 15, also of Pleasantville, First Assistant Prosecutor Cary Shill announced.
Officials say Nahquil Lovest pleaded guilty to a charge of first-degree Aggravated Manslaughter and must serve ten years in New Jersey state prison subject to the No Early Release Act (NERA), which mandates that the defendant must serve 85% of the sentence.
“The reality is that there is no amount of time the defendant can serve that will bring Na’imah back to life. The defendant’s reckless handling of a firearm robbed Na’imah and her family of all of her potential" officials said.
Now, two lives have been lost, which leaves us all wondering about who they could have developed into,” said Atlantic County Prosecutor Damon G. Tyner.
In October, Lovest was indicted on the following charges: Aggravated Manslaughter, second-degree unlawful Possession of a Weapon, second-degree Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose, fourth-degree Aggravated Assault Pointing a Weapon, in the fatal shooting of 15-year-old Naimah Bell of Pleasantville.
According to officials, police arrested Lovest on Friday, July 26, 2019, in connection to the murder of Bell was shot and killed inside the address 102 S. Massachusetts Ave., Atlantic City, shortly after 4:00 a.m., on July 25, 2019.
The medical examiner conducted an initial autopsy and determined that the pending cause of death a gunshot wound to the head.
The pending manner of death is a homicide.