New Jersey man acquitted in slaying gets 25 years in later slaying

JERSEY CITY, N.J. - A man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison in a New Jersey slaying that occurred less than a year after he was acquitted of a separate homicide a dozen years ago, prosecutors said.

Anthony Shuler, 31, of Jersey City was sentenced to the term Thursday in the September 2019 shooting death of 26-year-old Diamond Robinson in Bayonne, Hudson County prosecutors said. He had pleaded guilty last summer to first-degree aggravated manslaughter in the slaying.

Assistant Prosecutor Kevin Roe said in a statement that officials hope the term "provides some comfort to the victim’s loved ones."

The term is more than three times longer than the eight years Shuler spent behind bars awaiting trial in the June 2010 slaying of Darren Edwards in Jersey City. He was acquitted in that case in August 2018 by a jury that deliberated for less than three hours.

After his acquittal, Shuler praised God and said "it is he who allowed me to undergo my struggle without doubt."

Ten months later, Bayonne police found Robinson shot in the face. Authorities said in a 2019 criminal complaint that Shuler's girlfriend identified him as the shooter and surveillance footage showed him leaving the apartment, the Jersey Journal reported. He was arrested about 90 minutes later following a citywide search.