Atlantic City, New Jersey, man convicted of shooting at planned fistfight

An Atlantic City man is headed to prison in connection with a shooting during a planned fist fight in the city last year.

Jawaun Yeoman of Atlantic City sentenced

The Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office said Tuesday that 27-year-old Jawaun Yeoman was sentenced to 12 years in prison for second-degree aggravated assault, second-degree possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm with a handgun former offender under the No Early Release Act.

Under the terms of his plea agreement, Yeoman will not be eligible for parole until he has served 92 months, or about 7 1/2 years, and upon his release he will be under parole supervision for three years.

“Consensual and planned fist fight” in Atlantic City

Authorities said on March 25, 2023, Atlantic City police responded to a report of a shooting near Sovereign Avenue and Sunset Avenue. There they found an adult victim with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to the lower back.

Through an investigation, police determined that two groups of men had met to participate in a consensual and planned fist fight.

According to prosecutors, Yeoman and the victim took part in the fight, which ended after Yeoman fired a gun at the victim’s back. After the shooting, all of the men fled the area.

Yeoman was later arrested in May 2023 and a handgun was found on him. Ballistic tests confirmed that the recovered handgun had been used to shoot the victim. Yeoman was on probation at the time of the shooting, having been released from prison for second-degree robbery.