The Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Unit arrested and charged Jaishawn Gaston with the murder of 22-year-old Francis Villa, who was found with a fatal gunshot wound in a Forrest Street apartment in Jersey City on Aug. 31.
According to a press release from the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, police arrested Jersey City resident Jaishawn Gaston, 26, at approximately 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 15, at the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office in Jersey City when he turned himself in with his attorney.
Gaston has been charged with Murder, a first-degree crime; Possession of a Weapon (firearm) for an Unlawful Purpose, a second-degree crime; and Unlawful Possession of a Weapon (firearm), a second-degree crime.
On Monday, Aug. 31, just before 6 p.m., members of the Jersey City Police Department responded to an apartment on Forrest Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Ocean Avenue where they found a lifeless 22-year-old woman.
The victim, later identified as Francis Villa, had sustained a fatal gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at 6:04 p.m. at the scene by Dr. Lee of the Jersey City Medical Center.
The cause of death was determined to be a gunshot wound to the head and the manner of death was ruled homicide by the Regional Medical Examiner’s Office on Sept.14.
Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez credited the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Unit and the Jersey City Police Department for the investigation and arrest.
The above charges are merely accusations. Gaston is presumed innocent until proven guilty
