Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens II announced today that a Newark man has been sentenced to 61 ½ years in state prison for two separate shootings, including one that resulted in the death of a man in 2023. The Honorable Judge Patrick J. Arre, J.S.C., presided over both the trial and the sentencing.
On April 17, 2025, a jury convicted Dajuan Fiester, 40, of Newark, of 11 counts, including first-degree murder, for shootings that occurred in 2023 and 2022.
The prosecution proved that on May 7, 2023, Fiester shot Julius Ferguson, 38, of Newark, Daniel Campbell, 22, also of Newark, and Michael Newby, 25, of East Orange near the Paraiso Bar on Orange Street, Ferguson was killed. Campbell and Newby were injured.
During the investigation into that shooting, ballistics tests revealed that one of the guns used was a match to a shooting on North 5th Street in Newark on August 6, 2022. Fiester was convicted of second-degree assault and weapons charges for that shooting as well.
“While no amount of time can ever replace a life lost, we hope that this sentence brings some form of closure to Mr. Ferguson’s family as well as the additional victims. Gun violence cannot be tolerated, and these senseless acts cannot go unpunished”, said Assistant Prosecutor Julianne Bollettieri.
Under New Jersey’s No Early Release Act, Fiester must serve 85% of his sentence before he is eligible for parole.
Anyone with information regarding any criminal activity is asked to contact the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office Tips Line at 1-877-TIPS-4EC or 1-877-847-7432. All calls will remain confidential.
Dajuan Fiester
