Linden Man Charged In 2007 Roselle Street Killing

ELIZABETH – A 32-year-old Linden man has been charged with killing Roselle resident Gregory Fils-Aime in April 2007, authorities said.

Kareem Prunty was arrested Friday night as a result of a joint investigation between the Union County Homicide Task Force and the Linden Police Department. He was being held at Union County Jail in Elizabeth in lieu of $2 million bail, officials said.

Prunty, who had previously served time in federal prison for gun-trafficking, was charged with first degree homicide.

Fils-Aime, 28, was shot on the 1200 block of Roselle Street, near Cleveland Avenue, on April 18, 2007 shortly after midnight. Police found him on the sidewalk in front of a home; he was declared dead at the scene.

Police believe Fils-Aime had been at a local tavern on April 17 and left around midnight. Union County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow said that Prunty had argued while inside the bar, and both left a short time later.

“As Mr. Fils-Aime walked west on Roselle Street, the investigation revealed that Mr. Prunty approached and fired several shots at the victim,” Romankow said.

Linden Police Chief Michael Boyle said he hopes the arrest brings some closure to Fils-Aime’s family.

In the late 1990s, Prunty used a fake name to purchase handguns in West Virginia and brought them back to New Jersey to be sold. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to traffic firearms and was sentenced to four years in federal prison and three years supervised release. He finished serving his prison sentence in 2004, according to federal officials.