3 guilty of murdering NJ youth football coach in front of players

🚨 Joseph Jones was shot in the parking lot as youth football players played in 2018

🚨 Three suspects fired at a police officer on a traffic stop as they made their getaway

🚨 A jury took less than 2 hours to find three suspects guilty of first-degree murder

MILLVILLE — A Cumberland County jury found three men guilty of first-degree murder in the 2018 murder of a youth football coach as children played nearby.

Joseph Jones, 37, was in the parking lot of Lakeside Middle School in Millville on Aug. 9, 2018 around 8 p.m after his team's practice had ended.  He had been approached by three men who shot him a total of 10 times, according to Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae.

Prosecutors said children in the Millville Midget Football League were on the field when Jones was shot.

Webb-McRae in an emotional essay on NJ101.com in 2018 said the attack was one of two during that summer that "deeply moved and shocked me."

Suspects Clifton Bailey, Eugene Cosby and Will El-Bey fled the school after the shooting and headed north on Route 55. They also fired at a police officer involved in a traffic stop, according to Webb-McRae.

Bailey and Cosby got rid of the vehicles while El-Bey tried to get unspecified others to give false statements to police, prosecutors said.

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Prosecutor 'deeply moved and shocked' by shooting

The jury deliberated for less than two hours before announcing their verdict, according to the prosecutor.

All three were also convicted of first-degree conspiracy to commit murder and fourth-degree obstructing the administration of law.

Cosby and El-Bay were also convicted of third-degree tampering with witnesses and informants and conspiracy to obstruct, hinder, or tamper. El-Bay was further convicted of second-degree bribery while Bailey was convicted of third-degree hindering apprehension or prosecution.

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