Gov. Phil Murphy commuted the prison sentences of 19 people Monday, including two siblings tied to a 2009 killing in Camden County.
Rashawn Carter of Philadelphia and Latasha Baker will soon be released under parole supervision. Carter, 40, and Baker, 46, were implicated in the death of Oscar Hernandez during a botched robbery of the victim's business, Alex's Bakery in Woodlynne, a tiny borough located between Collingswood and Camden. The duo and two other defendants – their brother Maurice Carter and family friend William Cooper, Jr., the alleged gunman – stood trial in 2014.
While Maurice agreed to a plea bargain of 10 years in prison, his siblings received much stiffer sentences. The court sentenced Baker to 45 years, requiring that she serve 38 years prior to being eligible for parole. Carter received 107 years, and was ineligible for parole for 87 years.
Murphy's latest round of commutations and pardons, his fourth since his clemency initiative started in June 2024, will free Carter and Baker from state prison. Upon their release, they will begin five years of supervised parole.
Jamie Wallace, of Vineland, and Nathan Yates, of Voorhees, also are on the governor's list of commutations. Both men had been convicted of armed robberies. Wallace was sentenced to life in prison without parole, while Yates received 33 years. Murphy also commuted the sentence of Tivon Neals, a Brooklyn man who was found guilty in a 2003 murder in Burlington County.
Murphy's clemency initiative fast-tracks certain pardon and commutation applications for expedited review before an advisory panel. Among other criteria, the project prioritizes cases involving defendants who rejected plea deals offering relatively short prison sentences in favor of going to trial. After being found guilty, the defendants were sentenced to much harsher punishments than they had been offered in their deals. Lawyers call this "excessive trial penalty."
These cases have been a particular focus for the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, which built its own clemency project around Murphy's initiative. Yates, an ACLU-NJ client, had rejected a plea deal of seven years prior to his trial.
"As a 45-year-old man, I see every day as a blessing," he said in a statement. "I am grateful for the opportunity to make my second chance at life worthwhile by being a positive influence on people around me."
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