Noel Powell III, a former Lawrence Township resident, has pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter for shooting another man in the head as the victim sat at the bar at Appleebee’s restaurant on Route 1 in Lawrence in 2017.
Powell’s plea to second-degree manslaughter was made during a Feb. 3 hearing before Mercer County Superior Court Judge Darlene Pereksta. He was represented by defense attorney Robin Lord.
Powell will be sentenced by Pereksta on March 11.
Powell had been indicted on a charge of first-degree murder for killing Devin Smith, who also lived in Lawrence, but he was allowed to plead to the lesser charge of second-degree manslaughter in a plea bargain reached between the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office and his attorney.
N.J. man who killed patron inside Applebee’s takes plea bargain for 7 years in prison
Updated Feb 04, 2021;
Posted Feb 03, 2021
Noel Powell III, left, with his attorney Robin Lord during a 2017 court appearance in the death of Devin Smith.(Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media)
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A Mercer County man admitted Wednesday he fatally shot a man in the head inside an Applebee’s restaurant in 2017 as part of a plea deal with prosecutors that calls for seven years in prison.
Noel Powell III pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter, an act committed in the heat of passion with reasonable provocation, before Judge Darlene Pereksta in Superior Court of Mercer County. The agreement calls for Powell to serve 85% of the seven years - 5 years and 11 months - before he’s eligible for parole.
A Long Branch science teacher was arrested on Tuesday morning and charged with endangering the welfare of a child after investigators said he went online to try to exploit underage boys.
Jesse Rosenbaum, 65, a teacher at Long Branch Middle School, was soliciting underage males online to participate in sexual acts and sexual conversation, Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo Onofri said.
Prosecutors said Rosenbaum, who goes by Mr. R in school, was communicating with someone he believed to be a 14-year-old male via sexually explicit emails, text messages and phone conversations. Rosenbaum was in fact communicating with an undercover detective in Mercer County.
Jesse Rosenbaum, a teacher at the Long Branch Middle School, was arrested Tuesday and charged with attempted endangering the welfare of a child, Mercer County prosecutors said.
Jesse Rosenbaum, a science and special education teacher at Long Branch Middle School in New Jersey, has been charged with attempted endangering the welfare of a child.