A man in court Friday was convicted of homicide a second time after admitting to a killing.Mustafa Hill, 43, admitted to fatally shooting 19-year-old Armani McPhall on Dec. 22, 2016. The shooting occurred around 8 p.m. outside Vailsburg Wine and Liquor, on the 900 block of South Orange Avenue in Newark, said Assistant Essex County Prosecutor Justin Edwab, who handled the case. McPhall was pronounced dead at the scene from multiple gunshot wounds from a 9mm-caliber handgun. Both Hill and McPhall -- a graduate of Marion P. Thomas/Vision Academy High School who worked at Wakefern Food Corp. -- are from Newark.
Twenty months after the shooting, Hill pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter and unlawful possession of a weapon before Superior Court Judge Verna Leath.In exchange for Hill's plea, prosecutors will request a 25-year state prison sentence, with 85 percent served before parole eligibility. He will also have 5 years of parole supervision upon release.Hill was charged in another homicide that occurred in May 1993. In that case, he pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter and was sentenced to 20 years in prison with 7 years of parole ineligibility.Hill will be sentenced Friday, Nov. 2 at 9 a.m. in Essex County Superior Court.
Twenty months after the shooting, Hill pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter and unlawful possession of a weapon before Superior Court Judge Verna Leath.In exchange for Hill's plea, prosecutors will request a 25-year state prison sentence, with 85 percent served before parole eligibility. He will also have 5 years of parole supervision upon release.Hill was charged in another homicide that occurred in May 1993. In that case, he pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter and was sentenced to 20 years in prison with 7 years of parole ineligibility.Hill will be sentenced Friday, Nov. 2 at 9 a.m. in Essex County Superior Court.