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He lost his life over a Facebook post, and now his killer will spend two decades in prison – NJ.com


A Newark man was sentenced Friday to 24 years in state prison for a deadly shooting in Roselle that stemmed from an argument over an insulting post on Facebook.

Nathaniel Price, 28, must serve 85 percent of the sentence before being eligible for parole, according to the Union County Prosecutor’s Office.

Police on Jan. 21, 2017 found Tyquan Johnson shot several times in the driver’s seat of a vehicle in the 1000 block of Rivington Street, Union County Assistant Prosecutor Armando Suarez said. The 21-year-old shooting victim died later that day.

Union County Homicide Task Force investigators discovered the killing came after a long-running feud and physical altercation involving more than a dozen people, triggered by the social media post that Price believed insulted his relative, according to officials.

“The utter and complete senselessness of this crime cannot be overstated,” said Suarez, who prosecuted the case. “He [Johnson] had his entire life ahead of him, and it was lost…over mere words.”

Price surrendered to police three days after the shooting, according to authorities. Investigators recovered his DNA from the gun used in the shooting. He pleaded guilty in May to first-degree aggravated manslaughter and weapons offenses.

At sentencing before Union County Superior Court Judge Lisa Miralles Walsh, Price declined to speak.

Family members described Johnson, a Newark Liberty International Airport employee, as a hard worker who was not even directly involved with the social media-fueled dust up.

“I don’t understand why you took my son away from us,” Johnson’s mother told Price at a hearing, according to an account from the prosecutor’s office. “But I would have taken those bullets for him.”

Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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