The getaway driver in the car was sentenced to 6 years in prison
TRENTON - The last of four men accused of a drive-by shooting into a bodega that injured two, was sentenced to six years in prison Friday.
Justin Hill, 28, of Trenton, had previously pleaded guilty to second-degree aggravated assault, for which he got six years in prison, and an unrelated weapons charge, for which he got five years. The sentences will run concurrent, a superior court judge announced Friday.
"I apologize from the bottom of my heart," Hill said in court, though the man and the woman - whom prosecutors have called innocent bystanders - were not present in the room for Hill's sentencing. "I need to put down my childish ways and step up," he added.
Hill was one of four people accused in the shooting in October, 2014. Police and prosecutors have said he was driving a car past the bodega on the corner of St. Joe's and Girard avenues on Oct. 20 of that year. Two shoppers in the store were injured in the gunfire and were rushed to the hospital, though they later recovered.
2 men sentenced for bodega shooting
Three men, who were passengers in the car Hill was driving, were charged with firing the shots and sentenced earlier this year.
Raesean Sutphin, 21, and David Chavies, 20, were both given 10-year prison sentences in August. The final suspect, Semaj Conway, was given 10 years for the bodega shooting and five years for an unrelated street shooting weeks earlier. Conway was sentenced to prison in August.
On Friday, Superior Court Judge Peter Warshaw spoke about the rate of violence among young men in the capital city. He pointed to Hill's weapons charge, which the 27-year-old was issued when he was pulled over while illegally in possession of a gun. Hill told police at the time that the gun was for safety purposes, Warshaw said in court.
"That's a recurring theme," he added, noting that many young people in Trenton illegally carry guns to keep themselves safe - a decision that inevitably leads to a higher crime rate.
Hill will have to serve 85 percent of his six year sentence before he is eligible for parole.
Anna Merriman may be reached at amerriman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @anna_merriman