A Union County jury has returned guilty verdicts on all three charges filed against an Elizabeth man accused of the execution-style murder of his girlfriend in 2011.
According to authorities, Abdul Shahid Aziz, 51, was convicted Tuesday morning for the murder of 40-year-old Staten Island resident Ramona Shonette Jackson and two related weapons offenses following a three-week trial before state Superior Court Judge John M. Deitch and jury deliberations spread over two days.
At approximately 7 p.m. on Monday, July 11, 2011, Aziz drove Jackson to the end of Schiller Street in Elizabeth, stopping in a remote area by the railroad tracks owned by the Norfolk Southern railroad company, according to Union County Assistant Prosecutor Melissa Spagnoli, who prosecuted the case.
Once out of the car, Aziz fired a single shot at close range into Jackson’s forehead, Spagnoli said; the bullet traveled through Jackson’s left ring finger as her hand covered her face and into her forehead, killing her. Aziz then drove away from the scene, his 2002 blue Ford Explorer captured on video as he fled.
Approximately 12 hours later, workers for a company installing billboards along the nearby railroad tracks found Jackson’s body and notified authorities. A Union County Homicide Task Force investigation was subsequently initiated, and Aziz surrendered to members of the Elizabeth Police Department four days later.
During a videotaped interview that followed, Aziz confessed to the crime, but the Appellate Division of Superior Court in April 2016 granted his motion to have the confession omitted from his trial on procedural grounds.
Sentencing in the case has been scheduled for Friday, February 23, 2018 before Judge Deitch, at which time Aziz is expected to face a term of 30 years to life in state prison.
The Prosecutor’s Office would like to thank the Elizabeth Police Department, Union County Sheriff’s Office, and Norfolk Southern Railroad Police Department for their assistance in this investigation.