Newark -- Acting Essex County Prosecutor Robert D. Laurino announced today that Alquan B. Council, 28, of Newark pled guilty before the Honorable Nancy Sivilli, Judge of the Superior Court, to first degree aggravated manslaughter for fatally shooting Rayshawn Ross, 39, of Newark.
Council also pled guilty to second degree aggravated assault for shooting another man who survived and unlawful possession of a weapon. In exchange for pleading guilty, the state agreed to recommend a 23-year sentence in New Jersey State Prison. Under the No Early Release Act, Council would be required to serve 85 percent of his sentence before he is eligible for parole. He would also have 5 years of parole supervision after he is released from state prison.
According to Assistant Prosecutor Justin Edwab, who handled the case, on the evening of June 25, 2017 Council took an illegally possessed shotgun from his apartment at 4-6 Edwin Place and shot it multiple times outside where other residents of 4-6 Edwin Place and their acquaintances were sitting.
The defendant fatally shot Ross, who was 39 years old at the time. A second victim was also shot by the defendant but he survived. Following the shooting of the two victims, the defendant fled to Syracuse, New York. Subsequently, on July 7, 2017, Council was apprehended by local authorities in Syracuse.
“The apprehension, detention, and conviction of Alquan Council was the direct result of the cooperation of eye witnesses, the Essex County Homicide Task Force, and members of the Syracuse Police Department. Thanks to their collective efforts, this defendant will be off the streets of Newark for nearly a quarter of a century,” said Assistant Prosecutor Edwab.
Sentencing for Council is scheduled for June 11 before Judge Sivilli. In addition to the aggravated manslaughter, he will also be sentenced for a violation of the probation he was sentenced to prior to the shooting of Ross.