On the afternoon of March 12, 2015, a day that started like any other in Plainfield, New Jersey, ended in tragedy for 31-year-old Wilson Valdez. A male employee at a local convenience store, he found himself in the midst of sudden and terrifying violence. A drive-by shooting erupted on the 600 block of Berckman Street, and in a final, heroic act, Valdez was reportedly shielding a 4-year-old child when he was struck by a stray bullet.
He was an innocent bystander, a man simply at his job, when his life was abruptly cut short.
The investigation that followed the shooting painted a stark picture of gang violence spilling onto the city's streets. It was determined by the Union County Homicide Task Force that the barrage of eight bullets fired that day was not meant for Valdez. The intended target was a local drug dealer. The man behind the gun was Abdul Ward, a 26-year-old member of the Elizabeth-based 111 N.H.C. street gang. Valdez was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, an uninvolved casualty of a war he wasn't a part of. His death became a grim reminder of the collateral damage inflicted by such senseless acts.
Justice for Wilson Valdez did not come immediately, but it did come. Shortly after the shooting, police patrols spotted the suspect's vehicle attempting to flee the area. A brief pursuit ended in a collision, and Abdul Ward was apprehended, with a handgun recovered from his vehicle. His arrest was part of a broader crackdown on his gang's illicit activities. In a plea deal, Ward admitted to his role in the fatal shooting, and in March 2018, he was sentenced to 27 and a half years in state prison for the death of an innocent man. The sentence carried a stipulation that he must serve at least 85 percent of his term before any possibility of parole, bringing a measure of closure to a community shaken by the loss of a life taken too soon.
