In the late hours of a Tuesday night in Jersey City, the life of 38-year-old Abimael Fuentes was tragically cut short. On April 21, 2020, just after 10:30 p.m., the sound of gunfire shattered the relative quiet of Brinkerhoff Street, between Monticello and Bergen Avenues. When police arrived at the scene, they discovered Fuentes suffering from a gunshot wound to his abdomen.
He was a male resident of Jersey City.
Urgently transported to the Jersey City Medical Center, medical personnel fought to save his life. However, their efforts were in vain, and Abimael Fuentes was pronounced deceased at approximately 1:41 a.m. the following morning. The Regional Medical Examiner's Office later confirmed that the cause of his death was the gunshot wound, ruling it a homicide.
The investigation into the fatal shooting moved swiftly. Early the next morning, officers from the Hudson County Prosecutor's Homicide Unit apprehended a suspect at a residence on Brinkerhoff Avenue, not far from where the shooting had occurred. The man taken into custody was identified as 27-year-old Bernard Wilson of Bayonne. At the time of his arrest, Wilson was found to be in possession of two firearms.
Wilson was subsequently charged with murder, as well as several weapons offenses, including two counts of possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. In a later development in July 2022, Bernard Wilson pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of aggravated manslaughter for his role in the death of Abimael Fuentes. The state announced it would recommend a 20-year prison sentence for the crime.
