Pemberton Township man gets 58-year term for 'execution'

MOUNT HOLLY -  A Pemberton Township man has received a 58-year prison term for a slaying described as "an execution, plain and simple."

Douglas Lewis, 26, was found guilty earlier this year of the March 2017 murder of 24-year-old Shaquille Williams.

The victim was fatally shot in a car on the 100 block of Kinsley Road in the Sunbury Village area of Pemberton Township.

Williams, a Browns Mills resident, was targeted for robbing one of Lewis' associates, according to Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina.

“This was an execution, plain and simple,” Coffina said in a statement.

He said the prosecutor's office was gratified to bring justice to Williams' family "and appreciative of a sentence that sends a very clear message that gun violence carried out in a cavalier fashion as in this case will not be tolerated. "

A jury deliberated for eight hours in July before finding Lewis guilty of murder and weapons charges.

He must serve more than 40 years of his term for those offenses before parole eligibility under the sentence imposed Friday by Superior Court Judge Gerard Breland.

Lewis has been in custody since his arrest in August 2018, the prosecutor's office said.

Lewis was previously convicted of weapons offenses and conspiring with Brandon Clifton to kill Williams. Clifton, 23, of Pemberton Township, is awaiting trial on similar charges.

Jim Walsh covers public safety, economic development and other beats for the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal.

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