Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina announced that a Pennsauken man pled guilty in Superior Court today to fatally shooting a man in Burlington City earlier this year.
According to authorities, Irie Y. Simmons, 19, entered the plea before the Hon. Terrence R. Cook to one count of Aggravated Manslaughter. Under an agreement with the Prosecutor’s Office, Simmons will be sentenced to 19 years in state prison. He must serve 85 percent of the sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
Officials said that Simmons told Judge Cook that on the night of January 21, 2017, he and Eric Thomas II got into a fight near the intersection of East Broad and Library streets in Burlington City. Simmons said that during the course of the scuffle he shot Thomas. Thomas, 30, of Eastampton, was pronounced dead later that evening at Lourdes Medical Center of Burlington County in Willingboro.
A Cinnaminson man was also arrested for his involvement in the fight. Xavier L. Myers, 20, faces one count of Aggravated Assault.
The investigation was conducted by detectives from the City of Burlington Police Department and the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office. The lead investigators were BCPO Det. Michael Reagan and City of Burlington Police Det. Bill Ruskowski.