Inmate Sentenced in Prison Slaying of Englewood Man

A 24-year-old Paterson convict was sentenced Friday to seven years for the August 2012 prison attack that killed a fellow inmate from Englewood, officials said.

Floyd Nichols pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter in the death of Joshua Jones, 23, Hunterdon County Prosecutor Anthony P. Kearns III said. Nichols punched and knocked out Jones in a cell at the Mountainview Youth Correctional Facility on Aug. 14.

“Our condolences continue to go out to the Jones family. It is our hope that the healing process begins for this family now that Mr. Nichols has been sentenced,” Kearns said in a statement.

Jones suffered a severe head injury after collapsing on a concrete floor and died days later, authorities said. A medical examiner ruled the cause of death to be blunt force trauma.

Nichols was serving five years on drug and weapons charges, according to the state Corrections Department.

Jones had served only five months at the facility when he was attacked and would have been eligible for parole in January, records show.

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