Newark – Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens, II announced that Superior Court Judge Michael L. Ravin has sentenced Lamar Sommers, 36, of Bloomfield, to 35 years in prison for the murder of Jahque Benbow, 23, of Irvington.
On May 11, 2022, Sommers, along with two unidentified men, conspired to shoot Benbow at the Irvington gas station where he worked. Sommers drove the two men to Irvington, where he dropped them off a block from the station. The two shot the victim five times while Sommers waited in the car. Sommers then drove the shooters away from the crime scene. He then fled New Jersey and was subsequently apprehended in North Carolina on June 16, 2022.
On October 10, 2023, a jury found Sommers guilty of first-degree conspiracy, first-degree murder, second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, and second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.
Assistant Prosecutor F. Garnes, who tried the case with Assistant Prosecutor J. Ventola, said, “Mr. Benbow was hunted, then executed in a public place where innocent bystanders ran for their lives when shots rang out.”