A New Jersey murder case that hinged on a drug crew's trip to Radford -- and on tracking the gun they obtained there -- ended this week with a 25-year sentence for a man who shot a 14-year-old.

Earlier this year, Western Virginia federal prosecutors and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigators had praised the detective work that connected them to counterparts in New Jersey and led to Derrick M. "D.Y." Jones' guilty plea in July to a charge that he used a firearm in connection with the death of a teen.

According to court documents and officials involved in the case, Jones led a gang called OGM, short for Organization for Getting Money, that was trying to gain control of the drug-dealing in a huge apartment complex. When he shot up the home of a rival in August 2005, he inadvertently killed her nephew.

Investigators tracked Jones' gun and ammunition back to Radford. Shortly before the killing, Jones, his girlfriend and a lieutenant in OGM had fled the drug disputes in New Jersey and sought shelter at the apartment of Jones' sister, a Radford University student. The trio considered setting up shop in Radford, but the sister persuaded them to leave -- but only after she helped them purchase a pistol and bullets.

Back in New Jersey, the pistol became the weapon that Jones wielded in the attack in which the 14-year-old died.