On the evening of January 8, 2015, Tykwan Crenshaw, 20, was shot multiple times during an armed robbery inside the Royal Chicken restaurant on Springfield Avenue in Newark, New Jersey. He was taken to University Hospital but died less than thirty minutes after the shooting.

The Newark Police Department and the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes and Homicide Task Force investigated. Two Newark men were identified and arrested: Durrell Hearn, 26, accused of being the shooter, and Leon Trent, 30, accused of acting as a lookout. Authorities say Hearn also robbed two other people inside the restaurant.

Leon Trent pleaded guilty to conspiracy and robbery and testified for the prosecution. In December 2017 an Essex County jury convicted Durrell Hearn on eight counts, including murder, felony murder, three counts of robbery, conspiracy, and weapons offenses; he faced life in prison.