Man shot nearly a year ago dies charge may grow
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A Bayonne man shot in Jersey City last August after an argument over a bicycle has died and homicide detectives are waiting for a final medical report to decide if additional charges will be filed against the alleged shooter.

"A young man was shot and seriously injured over what apparently began as an insignificant argument," Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said of the victim, James Rhodes, 30, of West Seventh Street, who died Saturday.

In a preliminary autopsy report released yesterday the medical examiner said he will review all medical records from Rhodes' long stay at the Jersey City Medical Center before ruling on whether his death was caused by the gunshot wounds he suffered on Aug. 6 on Fulton Street.

Derrick Stinson, 20, has been in jail since his arrest three weeks after the shooting and he was indicted on Feb. 9 on the charges of attempted murder, aggravated assault and related firearm offenses, DeFazio said.

Depending on the findings of the autopsy, he could face more serious charges.

When police arrived at the scene of the shooting near Bayside Place they found Rhodes had blood on his shirt and they found blood and spent 9mm shells in the area, reports said. Rhodes was lying in a backyard and yelling, "I'm shot. Help. I'm shot," reports said.

Police learned that before the shooting Rhodes had been arguing with two men over a bicycle that was chained to a nearby fence, reports said. They developed information on the identity of the two men and a warrant for Stinson's arrest was issued, reports said. DeFazio said only Stinson was charged in the shooting.

Rhodes was shot once in the wrist and three times in the torso, DeFazio said.

Anyone with information about this shooting is asked to call the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office's Homicide Unit at (201) 915-1345.