Daniel McCargo was one of 2 people charged with murder in 2014 but his charges were reduced to a single gun crime.
TRENTON -- When 24-year-old Jamar Hall was found dying from gunshot wounds on a Trenton street two years ago, a part of his family broke, his grandmother said Friday morning.
"They destroyed us," Ellen Hall told Mercer County Superior Court Judge Peter Warshaw in court Friday. "I just want you to keep that in mind."
She was speaking during the sentencing of Daniel McCargo, 30, one of the two men initially accused in Hall's shooting death in 2014.
Initially charged with murder, the charges against McCargo were reduced to a single weapon offense and in June, he pleaded guilty to illegally possessing a handgun.
McCargo was sentenced to seven years in prison Friday for the charge. He will be eligible for parole in five years.
The other man accused in the shooting, Curtis Grier, has pleaded guilty in the case and awaits sentencing.
In April 2014, Hall was found shot on the 800 block of Quinton Avenue and died a shirt time later at an area hospital.
Shortly after the shooting, police pulled over a black Mercedes that had been seen fleeing the scene. Inside the car they found McCargo and Grier.
Both men were indicted on counts of first-degree murder and weapons charges in November of 2014.
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On Friday, McCargo's defense attorney Malaeika Montgomery said Grier was the sole shooter in the killing.
When police pulled over the Mercedes two years ago, McCargo just happened to be in the car, Montgomery said. And he was illegally in possession of a handgun that was not used in the shooting - resulting in the gun charge, she said.
Though McCargo's charge and sentence were largely unrelated to Hall's death, his appearance in court still brought up painful memories for his family members, some of whom approached the podium to talk about the slain 24-year-old Friday.
"When I see (Hall's) photo I try to remember what his voice was like," Ellen Hall said Friday. "He'll never get married, he'll never have children, he'll never see his son's wedding."
"They killed a part of us," she added, holding back tears.
Warshaw used the court appearance to address the problem of violence on the streets of Trenton Friday.
"There are too many conversations like this," he said before telling Ellen Hall that he wished more people could hear her talk about what she lost. "This is what happens when guns take over the streets."
Anna Merriman may be reached at amerriman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @anna_merriman.