Indian American Youth Gets 25 Years in Jail for Fatally Shooting His Father

An Indian-origin youth has been sentenced to 25 years in jail for fatally shooting his father at their home two years ago. Vishal Shah, 22, shot his 53-year-old father, Pradipkumar Shah, in 2016 in New Jersey.

Shah was sentenced in New Brunswick by Superior Court Judge Colleen Flynn for aggravated manslaughter, according to a statement by Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew Carey on May 17. Since his prison sentence is under the “No Early Release Act,” Shah will not be able to come out of the New Jersey state prison until 2040. The rule stipulates that a convict has to serve 85 percent of the term before he can be released on parole.

Shah pleaded guilty on March 13, 2018 to a reduced charge of aggravated manslaughter, according to the Middlesex County, New Jersey Prosecutor’s office.

The incident happened on June 10, 2016, at the family’s house on Lakeview Drive in the Parlin section of New Jersey’s Sayreville town, when he shot his father with a .25-caliber handgun. He then hid the weapon and later called 911 to ask for an ambulance and police to reach their home. He said that his brother had found their father unresponsive with “blood around,” nj.com reported.

“I was at work,” Vishal Shah can be heard telling the emergency dispatcher in the recording, which was released earlier during the hearing by the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, according to a previous report by the website. “My brother found my father in bed. There’s blood around,” Shah said, adding that his father “won’t wake up.”

Pradipkumar Shah died a day later at the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick.

Shah was charged after two days when the authorities recovered the gun used in the crime. He was arrested and held on $1 million bail at the Middlesex County Adult Corrections Center. He initially pleaded not guilty to the charges of murder, hindering his own arrest and tampering with evidence.

The motive for the crime has not been disclosed, the Associated Press reported.

Shah is being held at the Central Reception and Assignment Facility in Trenton, New Jersey, according to his record in the state’s inmate locator, India-West reported, adding that he will ultimately be housed in a permanent facility.