WOODBURY — Malcom D. Tyson, 25, of Paulsboro was sentenced on Aug. 10 to 28 years in New Jersey state prison after pleading guilty to aggravated manslaughter in the death of 60-year-old Sylvester “Buttons” Combs, whose body was found in a trailer at an abandoned Swedesboro business on April 6, 2016, Gloucester County Prosecutor Charles A. Fiore announced.
Tyson also was sentenced on pleas of conspiracy to commit arson in the burning of a storage shelter trailer at Lake Park Cemetery on April 1, 2016, robbery of a West Deptford Citgo service station on Aug. 13, 2016 and violation of probation as a result of his arrest and plea in the Combs homicide.
The sentences on those offenses will all be concurrent to the 28-year prison term for aggravated manslaughter.
The manslaughter and robbery sentences are subject to New Jersey’s No Early Release Act, which will make Tyson ineligible for parole until he serves 85 percent of his sentence
Tyson has been in jail since his Aug. 14, 2016 arrest on the West Deptford robbery. He was in jail when charged with the death of Combs, who had no permanent address and was known to frequent the trailer where he was found.
Police began searching for him based on a report that Combs, a familiar and well-liked figure in Swedesboro, had not been seen for several days. His death was attributed to blunt force trauma to the head. The death was investigated by the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office.
In sentencing Tyson, Superior Court Judge Robert P. Becker said factors favoring prison “substantially outweighed” any considerations in his favor.
