A convicted member of a violent Trenton gang is now charged with killing a fellow inmate at Bayside State Prison in Cumberland County.
Martin Sanchez, 41, was found unresponsive inside his cell Nov. 21. He was later pronounced dead.
The cause of death was determined to be blunt-force trauma.
An investigation led to a murder charge against Bruce Duette, 43, Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae said.
Sanchez was serving a 514-day sentence for theft out of Essex County, state Department of Corrections records show. He had been jailed since July 28, 2021.
Duette, who has since been moved to New Jersey State Prison in Trenton, is currently serving a nearly 20-year sentence related to his involvement with the Gangster Killer Bloods.
Known as "Black Magic," Duette pleaded guilty in March 2013 to first-degree conspiracy to commit murder, according to information released by the Attorney General's Office at that time.
He conspired with other members of the gang to commit a drive-by shooting July 27, 2005 against a large number of unknown members of the Crips who were gathered on a street in Trenton.
Duette was in the process of getting a Thompson .45-caliber machine gun so he could carry out the shooting, when other members of the Gangster Killer Bloods opened fire on the Crips. There was no evidence that anyone was hit.
While Duette remains in prison, the Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office will move for him to be detained on the new charge, Webb-McRae said.
