An Essex County man was sentenced to a combined 125 years in prison after being convicted of shooting a man five times at point blank range outside a night club and then threatening an eye-witness to recant their statements, officials from the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office said.
Isaiah J. Knight, 35, of East Orange was sentenced Friday after being convicted by a jury of first-degree murder, weapons offenses and conspiracy to commit witness tampering.
Knight was found guilty on April 17 of killing 23-year-old Tyzier White of Irvington on June 1, 2021, in front of the Neptune Lounge on Campbell Street in Newark, authorities said.
Knight shot White at close range outside the club after a dispute between Knight, Knight’s cousin and White, officials said.
Witnesses told police that Knight felt slighted by White, according to police.
Knight was also accused by authorities of devising a scheme from prison to force a witness to recant statements to police.
Six months after White was killed, one of the eyewitnesses was lured to a location by a woman who knew Knight. Three men wearing black masks and holding guns forced the witness to handwrite an “affidavit” recanting what the eyewitness previously told police, court documents say.
The eyewitness told police his family was threatened over text messages, and that his statements to police were edited into a music video with references to “snitches” that was later posted on Instagram, according to court documents.
The admissibility of the affidavit made its way to the Supreme Court of New Jersey. The court found that the affidavit was physical evidence of a crime, and that the state can obtain the document from the defense counsel.
Knight was sentenced to 75 years with no parole for the murder conviction and 10 years with no parole for conspiracy to commit witness tampering, authorities said.
He was sentenced to an additional 40 years in prison, to be served consecutively, for first-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, according to officials. Knight will be eligible for parole after 20 years of the 40-year sentence, officials said.
Knight’s attorney did not immediately return a request for comment.
Stories by Matthew Enuco
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