Man charged in cellmate’s death at South Jersey correctional facility
The Garden State Youth Correctional Facility holds offenders ages 18 to 30.
A 22-year-old Newark man incarcerated at the Garden State Youth Correctional Facility in Chesterfield, Burlington County, has been charged with murder in connection with his cellmate’s death.
Xavier Cepin was charged in the death of his cellmate, Shayne Johns, 28. Prosecutors say a correctional officer found Johns, of Mount Ephraim, lying on the floor of the cell he shared with Cepin on April 18 during an inmate count.
Johns was transported to Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton and died later that day.
The Burlington County Medical Examiner’s Office found that Johns had “severe internal trauma to the neck and throat area,” according to prosecutors, and ruled the death a homicide.
Cepin was charged Friday with no date set for his first court appearance. The facility houses roughly 1,000 offenders, ages 18 to 30.
