Jawaun Yeoman, 27, pleaded guilty on Tuesday, July 16 to second-degree aggravated assault, second-degree possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose, and first-degree unlawful possession of a handgun by a prior No Early Release Act felon. The Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office announced the guilty plea in a news release on Wednesday, July 17.
Atlantic City police responded to a shooting report near Sovereign and Sunset avenues on Saturday, Mar. 25, 2023. A man was found with a gunshot wound to his lower back but his injury was described as "non-life-threatening."
Investigators said two groups of men met up for a "consensual and planned fistfight." Yeoman and the victim fought each other, and the fight ended when Yeoman shot him.
The groups of men ran away from the area after the shooting. Yeoman was arrested in May 2023 and ballistic testing confirmed he was found with the same gun used in the shooting.
Yeoman was on parole after serving more than four years for second-degree robbery, according to state prison records. The robbery happened in Atlantic County in January 2017 and he was released from prison on Thursday, Apr. 28, 2022.
After his arrest in the fistfight shooting, Yeoman has been held in state prison since Friday, May 5, 2023. Prosecutors said Yeoman was expected to be sentenced to 12 years in state prison and he would have to serve eight-and-a-half years before being eligible for parole.
Yeoman was scheduled for sentencing in October.
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