Three men sentenced for 2006 gang-related killing

Three reputed Bloods gang members were sentenced Friday for their admitted roles in the 2006 beating and stabbing death of a Paterson man who they believed had ties to the rival Crips gang.

Paterson residents Nigel Everett, 23, Devon Parker, 27, and James Shiver, 27 all pleaded guilty last year to aggravated manslaughter in the killing of 16-year-old Keith Moody on June 8, 2006. The Paterson resident’s badly beaten body was found by police along train tracks in the Paterson’s 4th Ward near Warren Street.

Shiver admitted to stabbing the victim in the neck. Parker confessed to giving the order to a crowd of 12 at the scene to start beating the victim. Everett admitted he was among those who participated in the beating.

State Superior Court Judge Salem Ahto in Paterson sentenced Shiver Friday to 19 years in state prison, without parole eligibility for at least 85 percent of that term. Immediately after those proceedings, state Superior Court Presiding Criminal Division Judge Marilyn C. Clark in Paterson sentenced Parker to 18 years in prison and Everett to 10 years in prison. Both Parker and Everett must also serve at least 85 percent of their terms before parole eligibility.

All of the sentences were the result of protracted plea negotiations. Ten other co-defendants involved in the beating have pleaded guilty to assault charges and face lesser sentences, most about 10 years in prison. Their sentences will be imposed by state Superior Court Judge Joseph A. Falcone in Paterson over the next few weeks.

Passaic County Senior Assistant Prosecutor Paul De Groot acknowledged that relatives of the victim are not especially satisfied with all of the outcomes. He said, however, that given the multitude of co-defendants – most of whom would need to testify at trial – the case was a difficult one in terms of getting credible and cooperative witnesses.

“We’re just stuck with the reality and we have to deal with that reality,” he said before Judge Clark, calling the plea deals a “global resolution” that insured hard time for the culprits without having to undergo a lengthy and difficult trial. “We can never bring Mr. Moody back, and make the family feel whole,” De Groot added. “But this resolution is a fair resolution.”

Relatives of the victim attended the sentencing but declined to speak.

“This case involves a senseless, brutal, cowardly beating of a defenseless victim,” Judge Clark said. “It’s an awful and disgusting case.”