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In a Passaic County courtroom filled with Newark officers and Morgan’s loved ones, Jerome Wright officially pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter and two counts of robbery this afternoon.
He could have gone to prison for life without any chance for parole if he’d been convicted at a trial for felony murder.
Under terms of his plea with prosecutors, Wright admitted that he recklessly — but unintentionally — killed Morgan while trying to rob him and a woman he’d been out with the night of Nov. 7, 2011.
Morgan died trying to protect his companion.
Wright claimed he fired when the officer tried to take the gun from him.
An accomplice, Wright’s 20-year-old girlfriend Nashali Gadson, also admitted her participation in what was a holdup spree that fateful night that ended with Morgan’s death.
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