FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, NJ (Somerset County) – A Georgia man has been found guilty of murder in the November 2020 killing of a Franklin Township man at a barber shop in Somerset County, according to Acting Somerset County Prosecutor Thomas J. Chirichella.
On February 15, a jury found Tayyab A. Ware, 31, of Augusta guilty of first-degree murder, first-degree felony murder, first-degree armed robbery, second-degree conspiracy to commit robbery, second-degree possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose, and second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon in connection with the homicide of Denny Sanchez, 34, of Franklin Township, Chirichella.
Co-defendant Todd Smith, 32, of Edison, NJ previously plead guilty on January 7 to charges of first-degree robbery in relation to the shooting death of Sanchez, Chirichella said.
On Monday, November 2, 2020, at around 8:41 p.m., Franklin Township Police responded to numerous 9-1-1 calls reporting a shooting victim inside the backroom of a Barber shop located on Hamilton Street, in the Somerset Section of Franklin Township where a dice game had taken place, Chirichella said.
Officers located Sanchez suffering from a gunshot wound inside of the establishment. Franklin Township Police Officers immediately began to administer lifesaving measures along with responding emergency medical personnel. Sanchez was transported to an area trauma center where he was pronounced dead, Chirichella said.
Detectives from the Franklin Township Police Department, the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit, and the Crime Scene Investigations Unit, responded to conduct the investigation. An autopsy performed by the Northern Regional Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Sanchez’s death a homicide, Chirichella said.
The initial investigation determined that two men entered the shop, one armed with a gun, and told everyone to get down stating, “You know what time it is”. Money was taken from the room before Sanchez was fatally shot, Chirichella said.
A two-month investigation into this homicide was conducted and numerous interviews were conducted as well as follow up investigation, Chirichella said.
As a result of this investigation, on December 22, 2020 Smith was arrested and charged. On December 30, 2020 Ware was apprehended without incident in Augusta, Georgia by members of the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office’s and the Federal Bureau of Investigations Atlanta Field Office and subsequently extradited back to New Jersey, Chirichella said.
Smith is scheduled to be sentenced on March 8, Chirichella said.
Ware is scheduled to be sentenced on April 18 and he was remanded to the Somerset County Jail following the verdict, Chirichella said.
