Three men have been sentenced for their roles in the 2018 shooting death of a youth football coach in the parking lot of a middle school in south New Jersey, Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae announced Saturday.
Eugene Cosby, 48, of Malaga; Will El-Bey, 28, of Vineland; and Clifton Bailey, 33, of Camden, were convicted late last year of first-degree murder and related charges in the killing of 37-year-old Joseph Jones on Aug. 9, 2018.
The shooting occurred just after 8 p.m. Investigators say a masked gunman shot the victim 10 times in the parking lot of Lakeside Middle School in Millville, some 35 miles east of Atlantic City, shortly after the conclusion of a football practice.
Jones, described by local media as a father and youth football league coach, was rushed to a local hospital in Vineland, where he was pronounced dead.
The incident was described by Webb-McRae in 2018 as “particularly unsettling because it was committed in broad daylight at a football practice field in front of numerous children.”
A multi-agency investigation concluded that Cosby and Bailey disposed of the vehicles used in the crime. Cosby and El-Bey were also accused of conspiring with others to provide false statements to authorities.
Prosecutors have not specified which of the three defendants was the masked gunman.
They were arrested in late 2018 along with three other co-defendants, who have pleaded guilty for their roles in attempting to thwart the investigation.
On Oct. 31, 2024, a jury in Cumberland County deliberated for just under two hours before convicting the three defendants of first-degree murder and related offenses.
New Jersey Superior Court Judge Cristen P. D’Arrigo sentenced all three men on Friday.
Cosby was sentenced to life in prison, subject to a minimum term of 63 years and nine months. He also received a five-year prison term for witness tampering, to be served consecutively, according to Webb-McRae.
El-Bey was sentenced to 40 years and must serve at least 34 years before becoming eligible for parole. He also received a consecutive term of eight years for bribing witnesses.
Bailey received a 60-year prison sentence and must serve a minimum of 51 years before he’s eligible for parole. He was also sentenced to a consecutive prison term of five years for hindering the investigation.