On the night of October 8, 2015, 28-year-old Michael Williams II of Newark was shot and killed outside the Wet Bar on Belleville Avenue after an argument with other patrons spilled into the street. Williams was shot in the back as he tried to flee the confrontation.

Within weeks investigators from the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office and Belleville Police arrested three men from Elizabeth: 31-year-old Yanafi Mojica, 28-year-old Armand Padron, and 21-year-old Nathaniel Garcia. Padron was arrested in Miami and awaited extradition. Mojica ultimately pleaded guilty to first-degree aggravated manslaughter and received a 20-year state prison sentence with an 85 percent parole-eligibility requirement. Garcia and Padron pleaded guilty to third-degree hindering apprehension; Garcia served 491 days in jail and was sentenced to time served plus three years probation.

The motive for the argument that led to Williams’s death was not publicly clarified. If anyone knew Michael, was at the Wet Bar that night, or has information about what sparked the dispute, please share what is known.