Long Branch suspect held for 2006 Asbury Park shooting death

After nearly a decade, the probe of a gunshot death on an Asbury Park street yields an arrest.

Joey Johnson, 35, of Long Branch, faces a first-degree murder charge in connection with the death of Jakeema Kelly, then 21, of Asbury Park on March 26, 2006, according to the office of acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Chris Gramiccioni. He has his first court appearance today.

Johnson was apprehended at his place of work in Freehold on December 1, and placed in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution in Freehold on bail of $1.2 million, cash only.

He's also charged with possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and certain persons not to possess weapons, both second-degree counts.

A convicton on the murder charge would leave him open to a prison term of 30 years to life. Authorities added that he would be required to serve 85 percent of the time under New Jersey's No Early Release Act, and to comply with five years of parole supervision.

Conviction on either second-degree count would carry a maximum sentence of 10 years, with mandatory periods of parole ineligibility.

Kelly was found lying on Dewitt Avenue at about 8:24 PM by Asbury Park police, who had responded to a report of a shooting victim. He died less than an hour later at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune.

Information from Gramiccioni's office offered no insight regarding circumstances or evidence that led investigators to Johnson.

"The arrest of Joey Johnson is a testament to the hard work and perseverance of the detectives who relentlessly pursued this investigation," Gramiccioni said in prepared comments. "This Office and our local law enforcement partners will continue to vigorously pursue all leads in these cases despite the passage of time."