Man Pleads Guilty in Slaying of Newark Police Officer

A man pleaded guilty Wednesday to manslaughter in the shooting death of a Newark police detective outside a Paterson strip club in 2011, NorthJersey.com reported .

Jerome Wright pleaded guilty in Passaic County to aggravated manslaughter and two counts of robbery in the slaying of Michael Morgan, 32, of Belleville. Wright faced life in prison without parole if he had been convicted of murder. 

Under his plea arrangement, Wright, of Newark, faces up to 39 years in prison. Under state sentencing guidelines, he must serve 85 percent of the sentence before becoming eligible for parole.

Around 3 am on Nov. 7, 2011, Morgan and a woman were leaving the Sunrise Lounge, where he was celebrating a friend’s birthday, when they were approached by a gunman demanding cash. Morgan, who was off-duty, attempted to thwart the robbery by pulling his own weapon but was shot once in the chest. He was pronounced dead at St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson.

Wright was arrested within days of the shooting.

Wright’s girlfriend, Nashali Gadson, 20, also of Newark, admitted she was with Wright that night helping select robbery targets, NorthJersey.com reported. She pleaded guilty to committing three armed robberies.

Morgan, who had served nearly seven years on the force and had just been promoted to the Newark Police Department’s Special Investigations Unit days before his death, was posthumously awarded the NPD’s Medal of Honor.