Jersey City Man With Murder For December 2024 Shooting Death

Friday, January 31, 2025, 12:00 P.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

JERSEY CITY, NJ.- On Wednesday, January 29, 2025, a 26-year-old Jersey City, New Jersey man wanted in connection with a deadly shooting that occurred in Jersey City on December 8, 2024, was apprehended by members of the U.S. Marshals Service Florida Fugitive Task Force in Ocala, Florida.

     According to Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez, Zafarri Francis, 26, of Jersey City, is charged with first-degree Murder; second-degree Unlawful Possession of a Weapon; second-degree Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose; and third-degree Receiving Stolen Property. Following being taken into custody on Wednesday, Francis was lodged in the Marion County, Florida Jail pending extradition to New Jersey.

     The charges stem from an incident that began on Sunday, December 8, 2024, when shortly before 11:30 p.m., members of the Jersey City Police Department responded to multiple reports of gunfire on Fairview Avenue between John F. Kennedy Boulevard and West Side Avenue in the City.

Police Officers Find Elizabeth Man Shot

     Upon arrival, Police Officers found a man, later identified as Dushawn Bell, 34, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, suffering from multiple life-threatening gunshot wounds. Mr. Bell was immediately transported to Jersey City Medical Center, where, despite life-saving efforts by doctors, Mr. Bell sadly succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased early Monday morning, December 9, 2024.

     The Regional Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the Cause of Death to be multiple gunshot wounds and the Manner of Death Homicide. A subsequent investigation by Detectives of the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Unit identified Francis as the shooter and the individual responsible for the murder of Mr. Bell, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.