Mays Landing Man Will Spend 40 Years In Prison For Killing

Tampering with a witness has resulted in lengthening the minimum time in prison that a Mays Landing man will be serving after being convicted of killed a man and wounding 3 other people.

Atlantic County Prosecutor Damon Tyner says Matthew Gonzalez has been sentenced by an Atlantic County jury for the crimes for shooting a killing one man and wounding three other people.

He also received 15 additional years of must-serve time tacked on for intimidating a witness.

The shooting occurred on September 24, 2017, during a fight at the Brandywood Apartment Complex in Hamilton Township. Authorities say Gonzalez shot and killed Taufeeq Mitchell and shot and injured for others.

He was also, ultimately, charged with witness tampering.

He was convicted of the charges on March 8, 2020.

Prosecutor Tyner had this statement, particularly about the witness tampering part of the sentencing:

This sentence should send a very clear message to all of those who commit violent crimes in Atlantic County.  If you think that you will intimidate and threaten witnesses so they won’t testify against you, we will prosecute you and you can tack on another 15 years consecutive to the sentence for your original offense.  Witness tampering interferes with the integrity of the criminal justice system.  This defendant will spend the next 40 years in prison thinking about all of the poor decisions that landed him there.