On a March evening in 2014, a young man's life was abruptly cut short on a street in Newark, New Jersey. Kharey Lamont 'Bucky' Reynolds, a 23-year-old Black male, was standing on Isabella Avenue, engaged in a conversation with friends, when violence shattered the ordinary moment. Two individuals, one of them masked, approached the group and unleashed a barrage of approximately 40 gunshots. Reynolds was struck nine times in the hail of bullets. He was rushed to University Hospital, but his injuries proved to be fatal.
The investigation into the brutal slaying led authorities to Terrell Haywood, a 28-year-old man from the nearby town of Irvington. Haywood, who had a criminal record with prior drug convictions, was identified as the masked shooter. The second person who accompanied Haywood on that fatal day was never identified by law enforcement. The motive for the shooting was not immediately clear, but the brazen and relentless nature of the attack suggested a targeted act of violence that left the community in shock and mourning.
After a thorough investigation, Terrell Haywood was arrested and brought to trial. In December of 2017, an Essex County jury found him guilty on multiple counts, including first-degree conspiracy to commit murder, first-degree murder, aggravated assault, and several weapons offenses. The court handed down a life sentence for his role in the murder of Kharey Reynolds. Under the terms of his sentence, Haywood will be required to serve 75 years, or 85 percent of his sentence, before he becomes eligible for parole, ensuring that he will spend the vast majority of his remaining life behind bars for the violent end he brought to a young man's life on that Newark street.
