New Jersey man pleads guilty to involuntary manslaughter in Pennsylvania cold case

BLOOMSBURG, Pa. (AP) — A New Jersey man is scheduled for sentencing this week after unexpectedly pleading guilty in the death of a teenager two decades ago in Pennsylvania.

Brian Gregory Quinn, 46, of Woodbury, New Jersey, entered the involuntary manslaughter plea Friday in Columbia County Court in Pennsylvania, PennLive reported. Quinn had been awaiting trial on a homicide charge in the January 2001 death of 17-year-old Shamar Washington of Williamsport.

Quinn has been in custody for about 22 months since his March 2022 arrest, and the plea agreement calls for a maximum term of just under two years. Sentencing was deferred until Wednesday to allow relatives of the victims the opportunity to attend.

In 2001, hunters found Washington’s body without identification, shoes or a jacket down an embankment in a rural part of Hemlock Township outside Bloomsburg, authorities said. Washington had been reported missing from Williamsport six days earlier. An autopsy concluded he had been beaten, stabbed and shot.

Some witnesses tied another person to the crime along with Quinn, but indicated they did not know who might have been responsible for which specific actions. Assistant District Attorney Rebecca Reimiller said Friday there wasn’t enough evidence to charge anyone else in Washington’s death.

“There were a lot of things we don’t have,” she said, citing the lack of DNA, physical evidence or a murder weapon. She said the family was aware of a possible plea agreement, which she called appropriate because it accounted for what she called Quinn’s “reckless and grossly negligent” actions.