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Convicted drug dealer and Bloods street gang member murdered Jamillah Payne of Elizabeth

A convicted drug dealer who was found guilty last July of 1st degree murder in the death of an Elizabeth woman was sentenced Thursday to 60 years in prison, said Prosecutor Theodore J. Romankow.

Phillipe Barthelus, 24, was must serve 51 years in state prison before he is eligible for parole, said Assistant Prosecutor James Donnelly, who prosecuted the case.

Barthelus was found guilty of the July 13, 2006 murder of Jamillah Payne, said Donnelly. According to the investigation Barthelus and another man, Wedpens Dorsainvil were using Payne's apartment to traffic large quantities of cocaine to the greater Elizabeth area.

On July 13, 2006 rival drug dealers attempted to take over the apartment and the territory frequented by Barthelus and Dorsainvil. The pair suspected that Payne had become disloyal to the group and shot her inside the apartment before throwing her out of the fourth floor window, said Donnelly.

According to the medical examiner's office Payne was alive when she was thrown from the building.

Both Barthelus and Dorsainvil are confirmed members of the Bloods street gang. Dorsainvil was convicted in 2009 of conspiracy to commit murder and other charges. He is currently serving a 45-year prison sentence.

— NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM