Prosecutors call for 24 years in prison under the plea agreement with Salim Newton.
More than four years after shooting the mother of his child to death inside her Phillipsburg home, the woman's killer has admitted to lesser charges in exchange for 24 years in prison.
On Tuesday, less than a week before a trial on a first-degree murder charge was set to begin, 30-year-old Salim Newton pleaded guilty to first-degree aggravated manslaughter and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, the Warren County Prosecutor's Office announced.
With the plea, he admitted causing the death of 22-year-old Melissa Williams, whose body was found late Sept. 18, 2013, in her Spruce Alley home.
Police investigate a shooting late Sept. 18, 2013, in the 300 block of Spruce Alley in Phillipsburg. (Tim Wynkoop | lehighvalleylive.com file photo) Neighbors had reported hearing at least two gunshots and seeing two people a short time later run down the alley. A gun was found later that morning nearby on Atlantic States Cast Iron Pipe Co. property, and police soon identified Newton, then 26, as a suspect.
At the time, Newton was free after posting bail on drug charges in Hunterdon County. He had reportedly been living with Williams, his girlfriend, until abruptly leaving about two weeks before her death for a residence in the 500 block of South Main Street.
U.S. Marshals tracked Newton to Richmond, Va., where he was arrested after about a month on the lam.
Newton, whose last known address was in the 500 block of Phillipsburg's South Main Street, faced 30 years to life imprisonment if convicted of first-degree murder. He was also charged with burglary, criminal contempt and weapons counts.
Under the plea, prosecutors call for 24 years in state prison, with at least 20 years served before Newton is eligible for parole and another five years of parole supervision upon his release.
Salim Newton appears in Warren County court in 2014. (lehighvalleylive.com file photo) At least two other attempts at plea offers -- one from the state and the other proposed by the defense -- had been offered as the case progressed toward trial.
First, in August 2014, Newton rejected prosecutors' offer that would have called for a 22-year sentence if he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of aggravated manslaughter and two weapons charges.
Then, in November that year, prosecutors rejected a counteroffer in which Newton would have pleaded guilty to manslaughter -- which would have meant the death was not premeditated -- in exchange for a 5-year prison term.
A trial on Newton's murder charge began last fall in Belvidere, but was halted when Newton changed attorneys before testimony began. On Tuesday, he was represented by Morris County attorney Michael Priarone, who has defended others accused in high-profile Warren County cases recently, including one murder.
A second attempt at Newton's trial was scheduled to begin next Monday with jury selection.
It would have been the county's second homicide trial this year. Warren County Assistant Prosecutor Victor Jusino -- who led the case against Newton -- last month convinced a jury to convict 29-year-old Daniel Lawrence of first-degree murder for fatally stabbing a man in 2014 outside a home in Washington.
Another Warren County homicide case, also out of Washington in 2014, was resolved in March when 41-year-old Ralph Atkinson pleaded guilty to separate charges of murder and child sex crimes in exchange for a recommended 26-year prison sentence.
At least one more Warren County murder trial is planned for 2017. Zachary Flowers, the last of four co-defendants in the 2012 Phillipsburg gas station shooting, is tentatively scheduled to stand trial on a felony murder charge in September.
Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @type2supernovak and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.