Pleasantville man serving prison sentence for EHT killing when he was a teen

A Pleasantville man who was arrested with a gun while on release in a killing when he was a juvenile is currently in state prison on both charges, BreakingAC has learned.

Ernesto Contreras-Jimenez was just 17 years old when he shot when he shot 16-year-old Alejandro Gonzalez-Santos Jr. in the back of the head Jan. 26, 2018.

The teens were in the bedroom of friend Michael Campos, when Jimenez took out the gun to show the others, and fired.

Contreras-Jimenez, now 22, was freed on an ankle bracelet in time to graduate with his class that June.

He then was waived up to be tried as an adult, and again released while he case went through the courts.

COVID postponed his trial.

But before a new date could come, Contreras-Jimenez — now living in Pleasantville — was arrested during an investigation into a two-vehicle crash in Atlantic City on Dec. 26, 2020.

Each was found with a loaded gun in the vehicle, where police also discovered marijuana.

That Contreras-Jimenez already was on the highest level of pre-trial release and still armed himself showed that he remains a danger to the community, Superior Court Judge Bernard DeLury said at his detention hearing in January 2021.

Nothing more was released about the case.

But it appears that Contreras-Jimenez pleaded guilty in both cases last year.

He was sentenced March 31, 2022, to 10 years in prison on a manslaughter charge, according to state Department of Corrections records.

Jimenez-Contreras also was sentenced to five years for the 2020 gun charge.

He must serve at least 8½ years under the No Early Release Act.

His current maximum release date is June 7, 2029, when he will be 28 years old.

BreakingAC is reporting the sentencing after the announcement of a plea deal made by Contreras-Jimenez's co-defendant in the 2020 gun case.

It was not clear why the plea deal was not previously made public.