In the early morning hours of Labor Day, September 2, 2024, the streets of Newark, New Jersey, were disrupted by the sound of gunfire. Responding to these reports just after midnight, police officers arrived at the 100 block of Chadwick Avenue to a grim scene. There, they found 33-year-old Darryl A. Craft, a male resident of Newark, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
He was rushed to University Hospital, but his injuries proved to be too severe, and he was pronounced dead at 12:54 a.m.
The investigation into Craft's death was swiftly undertaken by the Essex County Prosecutor's Office Homicide Task Force, which includes detectives from the Newark Police Department. Their work led them to explore a possible connection between this fatal shooting and another violent incident that occurred in the same neighborhood less than a day later, where several other individuals were injured by gunfire.
After weeks of investigation, authorities identified a suspect in Darryl Craft's murder. On Monday, October 7, 2024, Zyion A. Williams-Jones, 21, who has addresses in both Newark and Phillipsburg, was arrested in Phillipsburg. Williams-Jones was subsequently charged with murder, unlawful possession of a weapon, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. He is currently being held at the Essex County Correctional Facility. While an arrest has been made, the investigation into the shooting continues.
