Crime & Safety

Grand Jury Refuses to Indict Sheriff's Officer in Park Slaying

Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray expresses condolences to the family, saying "the voice of the community has determined no crime was committed."

Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray announced today a grand jury declined to bring any charges against Sheriff’s Officer Edward Esposito, 30, in connection with last July’s shooting death of Atlanta businessman DeFarra Ivan Gaymon, 48.

As reported by Patch last year, Gaymon was fatally shot in Branch Brook Park in Newark on July 16, 2010 by Esposito, an undercover Essex County Sheriff’s detective.  Murray’s statement detailed Esposito’s grand jury testimony, wherein he said he was investigating complaints of sexual activity in the park when Gaymon, engaging in a sex act, approached him. 

Esposito, wearing street clothes, testified when he identified himself as a police officer Gaymon, 48, appeared to panic, assaulted him and fled.  Esposito said he repeatedly commanded Gaymon to stop during a foot chase but Gaymon ignored the commands, threatened to kill him and also tried to disarm him.  Esposito said he feared for his life and shot Gaymon once in the abdomen.  Though Esposito immediately called an ambulance for assistance, Gaymon was pronounced dead at University Hospital at approximately 9 p.m., according to the prosecutor’s statement. 

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Today, 23 grand jurors declined to bring any charges against Esposito, said Murray in her statement, because under New Jersey law, a police officer is permitted to use deadly force if he or she has a reasonable belief his life is threatened.  The statement said an extensive effort was undertaken to identify witnesses who may have seen all or part of the encounter between Gaymon and Esposito but no witnesses came forward. 

“We want to express our condolences to the Gaymon family. This is a very sad and painful case but a grand jury – the voice of the community -- has determined no crime was committed. We must respect that decision,’’ said Acting Prosecutor Murray.  

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The grand jury’s decision brought to a close a case that sparked outrage and controversy among Gaymon’s family members and members of the public.    

Gaymon, an Atlanta businessman, CEO and father of four, had been in New Jersey for his Montclair High School reunion.  After his killing, many people, including his stunned family members, questioned why he was not shot in the leg or other limb so that he might only have been incapacitated. 

A public statement issued by the family calls Esposito’s description of the events “a blatant lie,” insisting Gaymon was a “nonviolent, nonaggressive and nonthreatening person his entire life.”The letter cited nine police shootings in Essex County in seven months, six of which were fatal, alleging a practice of excessive use of force on the part of Essex County police.

Gaymon’s shooting also drew heated criticism from leaders of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community, who wrote a scathing letter to Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontura calling for a complete and independent investigation of the circumstances surrounding his death. 

In separate letters, the organizations Garden State Equality (GSE) and Gender Rights Advocacy Association of New Jersey (GRAANJ) asked, “whether the killing was part of a sting operation in the park targeting gay men specifically or LGBT people specifically." 

Deborah Jacobs, executive director for the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, called on the state Office of Attorney General to conduct a thorough investigation of the incident.  

Jacobs told Patch in July 2010, "Considering the seriousness of the incident, and many unanswered questions, this investigation demands the legitimacy that only an external review can provide."

Patch’s efforts to reach the Gaymon family and their lawyers were unsuccessful.

As a result of the shooting, the sheriff’s office suspended all plainsclothes undercover operations designed to crack down on sexual activity in the park. 


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