Fred C. Sims, 29, was shot and killed on the evening of February 7, 2019, in the 900 block of Frelinghuysen Avenue in Newark’s South Ward. Responders took him to University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 5:55 p.m. The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide/Major Crimes Task Force and the Newark Police Department opened an investigation.

Surveillance footage from the area was described as central to the case. Video allegedly showed Darryl Watson, identified by investigators as a local drug dealer, stashing a firearm and narcotics in a minivan wheel well, later retrieving the weapon, approaching Sims and shooting him in the head. The footage reportedly showed Watson firing about ten more times while standing over Sims’ body before fleeing.

An arrest and prosecution followed; Watson was charged with murder and related firearm and drug offenses. The case raises questions about who else might have seen the shooting or the activity near the Kretchmer Elderly public housing complex that evening. Anyone with information is asked to come forward.