FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Caitlin Mota
PHONE: (201) 577-6699
EMAIL: cmota@hcpo.org
DATE: Thursday, July 6, 2023
THREE CHARGED IN CONNECTION WITH 2022 FATAL SHOOTING IN BAYONNE
Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez has released the following information:
The Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Unit has charged three individuals in connection with the shooting death of Damoi Davauni Campbell in Bayonne on July 27, 2022.
Mitchell Watson, 22, of Salem, is charged with Murder in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3a(1) or (2) and N.J.S.A. 2C:2-6(1)(b) (accomplice liability); Conspiracy to Commit Murder in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:5-2a(1) and 2C:11-3a; two counts of Unlawful Possession of a Weapon (handgun) in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5b; and two counts of Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose (handgun) in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:39-4a(1). He was arrested in Salem, New Jersey, on Thursday, June 29, 2023, and is being held at the Hudson County Correctional Facility pending his first court appearance.
Hafis Jackson, 20, of Salem, is charged with Murder in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3a(1) or (2) and N.J.S.A. 2C:2-6(1)(b) (accomplice liability); Conspiracy to Commit Murder in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:5-2a(1) and 2C:11-3a; two counts of Unlawful Possession of a Weapon (handgun) in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5b; and two counts of Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose (handgun) in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:39-4a(1). He is currently in custody at the Howard R. Young Correctional Institution in Wilmington, Delaware, on unrelated charges.
Daynajah Payne, 24, of Irvington, is charged with Murder in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3a(1) or (2) and N.J.S.A. 2C:2-6(1)(b) (accomplice liability); and Conspiracy to Commit Murder in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:5-2a(1) and 2C:11-3a. She was arrested in Long Valley, New Jersey, on Wednesday, June 28, 2023, and is being detained at the Hudson County Correctional Facility pending her first court appearance.
On Wednesday, July 27, 2022, at approximately 4:27 a.m., the Bayonne Police Department received a report of shots fired in the area of 21st Street and Avenue A. Upon arrival, responding officers found a male victim inside of a vehicle on West 21st Street, west of Avenue A. The victim – later identified as Damoi Davauni Campbell, 23, of New York – was pronounced dead at the scene. The Regional Medical Examiner’s Office determined the Cause of Death to be Gunshot Wounds to the Back and the Manner of Death to be Homicide.
Prosecutor Suarez credited the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Unit, the Bayonne Police Department, the United States Marshals Service New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force, the New Jersey State Parole Board, the Salem County Prosecutor’s Office, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, the New York Police Department, the Salem Police Department, the Washington Township Police Department, and the Wilmington Delaware Police Department with the investigation and arrest.
This investigation is active and ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Office of the Hudson County Prosecutor at 201-915-1345 or to leave an anonymous tip at: http://www.hudsoncountyprosecutorsofficenj.org/homicide-tip/. All information will be kept confidential. The above charges are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. R.P.C.3.6(b)(6).