Jamil Hubbard, 30, has been found guilty of running over and murdering a stranger for “being white.”
In 2018, Hubbard ran over 56-year-old emergency medical technician Jerry Wolkowitz in a New Jersey parking lot, because of the color of his skin.
On Friday, Hubbard was convicted of first-degree Murder, first-degree Bias Intimidation, second-degree Eluding, third-degree Theft from the Person, third-degree Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose, and third-degree Motor Vehicle Theft.
The Office of the Monmouth County Prosecutor said in a press release, “At approximately 7:15 a.m. on the morning of Tuesday, May 1, 2018, members of the Freehold Township Police Department and other first responders rushed to the Chesterfield Apartments on Harding Road on a report of a physical altercation involving a person struck by a vehicle. At that location they found Wolkowitz in the apartment complex’s parking lot, having sustained severe injuries to his head, abdomen, and back. Wolkowitz was subsequently rushed to Jersey Shore University Medical Center for emergency treatment.”
“Missing from the parking lot was Wolkowitz’s vehicle, a Kia Forte, which Hubbard was later found to have stolen,” the press release continued. “Hubbard then led police on a pursuit, refusing to obey commands to pull over, until it was terminated due to high speeds and out of concern for public safety. Minutes later, the Kia was found abandoned on Bordentown Avenue in Sayreville, and Hubbard was arrested by members of the Sayreville Police Department without incident at his home in the nearby Winding Wood Apartments.”
The prosecutor’s office said that Hubbard told investigators that he spotted Wolkowitz walking nearby and “decided to try to kill him because he was white,” initially attacking him from behind with punches and kicks before stealing his wallet and car keys. He also told investigators he dragged the victim into the parking lot and ran him over.
“This was the textbook definition of a senseless crime, and as our prosecuting team astutely noted in their closing argument, ‘senseless’ does not mean ‘insane,’” Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago said in a statement. “Mr. Wolkowitz was an innocent victim, minding his own business and on his way home from work, when his life was snuffed out over something as trivial as the color of his skin. Such a monstrous act necessitates that justice be served, and we sincerely thank the jury in this case for carefully weighing the evidence and reaching the appropriate conclusion.”
Sentencing in the case has been scheduled for March 31, 2023. Hubbard is facing up to life in prison without the possibility of parole.