Former high school basketball star convicted of the 1990 killing of a teen was found shot to death in Hamilton Thursday
HAMILTON - An autopsy of convicted killer Michael "Mickey Rome" DiMattia, who was found shot to death in his Hamilton apartment Thursday, ruled his death a homicide, authorities said.
Authorities on Thursday declined to call DiMattia's death a homicide until an autopsy was performed Friday morning, the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office said.
Prosecutors declined to say how many times DiMattia was shot or where. No one has been charged in DiMattia's death.
Hamilton police officers responding to a 911 call Thursday around 7 a.m. found DiMattia dead inside his Estates Boulevard apartment, prosecutors have said.
DiMattia, a former McCorristin High School football and baseball star, pleaded guilty in 1990 to manslaughter in the Trenton shooting death of James Howard, 17.
Man shot to death in Hamilton identified as convicted killer
He was sentenced to 10 years in prison but served less than three. Over the years DiMattia has had numerous run-ins with the law, including four 1998 weapons convictions.
He was charged in 2009 with federal firearms possession and sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison, with 3 years of supervised release.
He had been arrested during a motor-vehicle stop on Chambers Street in Trenton.
The officer saw a crack pipe in DiMattia's hand and ordered him out of the car, officials said then. While patting him down, an officer found three loaded handguns and saw that he was wearing what looked like body armor.
When the officer questioned DiMattia he said, "Yeah, what do you think? They all want to kill me after I killed that kid."
Man shot to death in Hamilton apartment
In the past several years, DiMattia, free from federal prison, violated the terms of his release at least twice by testing positive for using dugs, court documents show.
Following a 2013 arrest, he was once assigned to a local drug treatment program, but failed to show up for meetings.
DiMattia was arrested again in July 2015 for testing positive for cocaine during a drug screening, as part of his supervised release.
Keith Brown may be reached at kbrown@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KBrownTrenton. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.