What to Know
- Joseph Jones was gunned down after a youth football practice at Lakeside Middle School in Millville, New Jersey.
- Two men, Eugene Cosby and Will El-Bey, are accused of murdering Jones. Two other are accused of hindering their apprehension.
- "This homicide was particularly unsettling because it was committed in broad daylight at a football practice field," prosecutor says.
Nearly two months to the day after a youth football league coach was shot and killed at a South Jersey school, two men are charged with his murder.
Eugene Cosby, 42, of Malaga, and Will El-Bey, 22, of Vineland, were charged with homicide and conspiracy to commit homicide in the Aug. 9 killing of Joseph Jones at Lakeside Middle School in Millville.
"This homicide was particularly unsettling because it was committed in broad daylight at a football practice field in front of numerous children," Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae said while announcing Thursday the arrests stemming from an "intensive" two-month joint investigation.
Two others — Genea Hughes-Lee, of Malaga, and Tyrell Hart, of Vineland — were also arrested and charged with hindering apprehension, obstruction and related counts for allegedly giving false reports to investigators in an attempt to shield Cosby and El-Bey, the prosecutor's office said.
Jones, a 37-year-old Millville man, was killed in what appeared to be a "targeted attack," prosecutors said at the time of the attack.
At least one shooter was in a car that fled from the school moments later, investigators said. Someone in the car then fired at some police officers a short time later, but no one was hit and the officers did not return fire.
"It is my hope that these arrests assure the victim's family, the children and the parents of the Millville Midget Football League and the greater community that law enforcement will do all in its power to bring those we allege are responsible to justice."
It was unclear if any of the suspects had attorneys who could comment for them.
