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A Long Branch man was arrested Tuesday for the 2006 murder of 21-year-old city resident Jakeema Kelly, found along a sidewalk on Dewitt Avenue, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni said.

Joey Johnson, 35, taken into custody at his place of employment in Freehold by Prosecutor’s Office detectives and Asbury Park Police, with assistance from New Jersey State Parole Board officers, Gramiccioni said.

Johnson, who has been charged with first degree murder, second degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and the second degree charge of being a person deemed not to possess a weapon, will make his first appearance 1:30 p.m. Wednesday before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Honora O’Brien Kilgallen.

“The arrest of Joey Johnson is a testament to the hard work and perseverance of the detectives who relentlessly pursued this investigation,” Gramiccioni said in written statement. “Over the course of time, these dedicated law enforcement officers ensured the person responsible for Jakeema Kelly’s murder would be brought to justice. This Office and our local law enforcement partners will continue to vigorously pursue all leads in these cases despite the passage of time.”

Asbury Park Police were dispatched near 8:24 p.m. March 26, 2006 on a report of a gunshot victim lying on the ground. Kelly, found near the entrance to the Westside Community Center’s administration building, was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 9:21 p.m., Prosecutor’s Office spokesman Charles Webster said. A Joint investigation was launched by the Prosecutor’s office and the Asbury Park Police Department.

Johnson is being held at Monmouth County Jail in lieu of $1.2 million cash only bail set by Kilgallen.

He faces 30 years to life imprisonment for the murder charge, Webster said.

The 30 year sentence comes with no chance of parole and the maximum life imprisonment is subject to the “No Early Release Act” provision that requires Johnson serve 85 percent of any sentence over the 30 years before becoming eligible for release on parole. If that were to occur, Johnson would remain under parole supervision for five years.

If convicted of the possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose, Johnson faces up to 10 years imprisonment. He would have to serve at least one half the sentence or 42 month, whichever is greater, before being eligible for parole.

Johnson face an addition maximum 10 years if convicted of the certain persons not to possess weapons, which comes with a five-year mandatory period of parole ineligibility.

The case is assigned to Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Senior Litigation Counsel John Loughrey.

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