EDISON — A 21-year-old Newark man died from stab wounds sustained when a series of fights broke out at a hip-hop party at the Mirage banquet hall on Oak Tree Road in the early morning hours of Dec. 24.
Jayson Perry was pronounced dead at 1:43 a.m., shortly after being taken to JFK Medical Center in Edison, according to the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office. Five other people were stabbed at the party and one of them was hospitalized. Another man sustained a superficial gunshot wound during the disturbance, police said.
The Mirage had been rented for a hip-hop performance featuring entertainer French Montana. Between 400 and 500 tickets were sold for the “Friday Before Christmas” show, authorities said. A promotional video for the event states that it was sponsored by the New York radio station Hot 97 and BET’s “106 & Park,” with music provided by DJ Wallah.
The disturbance began before the show started, according to the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.
Police were called to the Mirage at 1:04 a.m. after a number of patrons began fighting inside. Scores of customers fled to the parking lot as officers arrived amid reports of fighting, stabbings and gunshots, police said.
Police from Woodbridge, South Plainfield and Piscataway were dispatched to assist Edison police with crowd control.
During the fracas, a group of men in a car drove up to police in the parking lot to report that two of the occupants of the vehicle had been stabbed. Police escorted their car to JFK Medical Center, where Perry was pronounced dead shortly after arrival, police said. Another man in the car was treated at an area hospital for a stab wound and was listed in stable condition later on Dec. 24.
Anyone with information on the homicide was asked to call Detective Sean Forker of the Edison Police Department at 732-248-7531 or Investigator Adrian Villegas of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at 732-745-4428.