Marquis Skillman

Two Trenton men charged in separate murder cases will serve hard time behind bars.

Marquis Skillman, 30, received an 11-year prison sentence last week for his role in the 2013 shooting death of Rayshawn Ransom while Tomarkus Whitfield, 39, received a sentence of 19 years and six months in the slammer for killing Pinkey Priester in 2014.

Under Skillman’s plea deal, he admitted guilt to robbery and a weapons offense in exchange for prosecutors dismissing murder charges against him. Skillman was one of the three men charged in connection with the slaying of Ransom, 19, on June 12, 2013, in the city of Trenton.

The other defendants in the case were Alton Jones, 25, who pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter, and Dyquise Leonard, also 25, who has pleaded guilty to attempted murder. Prosecutors say Jones is the defendant who fired the shot that killed Ransom.

Skillman, who was represented by private attorney Michael Kuhns, must serve nine years and four months in state prison before he is eligible for parole.

Tomarkus Whitfield

Whitfield pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter, extreme indifference to human life, in exchange for prosecutors dismissing his murder charges and weapons offenses. He shot and killed 33-year-old Priester in Trenton on June 16, 2014. The self-confessed killer was represented by pool attorney Ronald Garzio in the criminal proceedings that ended with Whitfield receiving nearly 20 years of imprisonment.

Zaire Jackson listens to testimony at his murder trial on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017. (GREGG SLABODA — The Trentonian)

When Zaire Jackson was 17 years old, two detectives at Trenton Police headquarters questioned him extensively in hopes of getting the city teenager to confess to murder.

The officers warned Jackson that he would eventually have a criminal trial and told him the jurors would want to know if he was a “ruthless thug” or a person who “just made a mistake” in the shooting death of 22-year-old Irvin “Swirv” Jackson.

“I didn’t do it,” Zaire Jackson, who was not related to the victim, said during the intense police interview on April 20, 2012.

Jackson, now 22, continues to deny any wrongdoing as he defends himself in a court of law on allegations he murdered Irvin Jackson in broad daylight on Monday, April 9, 2012, which was the day after Easter Sunday.

The trial

On Tuesday in Superior Court Judge Andrew Smithson’s courtroom, the jury in Zaire Jackson’s murder trial viewed the video recording of Jackson’s April 2012 interview with police — a lengthy session that defense attorney Steven Lember described as “an interrogation.”

Trenton Police Detective Scott Peterson and Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office investigator James Francis in the video used a variety of techniques, including fabrications about evidence, to get Jackson to crack, but the defendant did not take the bait.

The officers told Jackson that “a lot of people” saw him running past Hermitage Avenue and up Moses Alley with a gun in his hand. The officers also implied that multiple surveillance systems captured Jackson on camera and suggested that they had data from cellphone towers proving he was at the scene where the victim was shot and killed execution style.

“I ain’t kill Swirv,” Jackson said in the police interview.

“Yeah you did, bro,” one of the officers said in response.

“You did something stupid, man,” one of the detectives said.

“I didn’t kill him. Feel me?” Jackson said in response.

“If you keep telling yourself, you’ll eventually believe it. … I believe it was self-defense. You are 17 years old. Let me help you,” one of the officers said to Jackson.

“I ain’t do it. I wasn’t there,” Jackson said in response.

The officers told Jackson he could set himself free by telling the truth and told him he was a “cold-blooded killer” who needed to “accept responsibility” for the victim’s death.

“I didn’t do it,” Jackson said after about two hours of questioning from police.

“All right,” an officer said in response. “I know that you did, though.”

Cross-examination

Nearly five years after questioning the defendant at police headquarters, Detective Peterson testified as a witness under oath Tuesday at Jackson’s murder trial.

Steve Lember, who is representing Jackson as his pool attorney, on Tuesday cross-examined Peterson in ways that got the detective to admit he had used techniques of fabrication in a failed attempt to get Jackson to confess to the murder.

“You wanted to see that my client was guilty, because you believed he was guilty,” Lember said to Peterson. “You lied to my client repeatedly in that interrogation.”

Police only had one low-quality video that appears to show a person running up Moses Alley from North Hermitage Avenue in Trenton’s West Ward. Mercer County Assistant Prosecutors Skylar Weissman and Mike Mennuti played that video in court Tuesday, giving the jurors a chance to see what was happening at the intersection of North Hermitage and Moses Alley in the moments before and after a shooter killed Irvin “Swirv” Jackson.

Peterson on the witness stand described it as a “very poor” and “choppy” video and conceded the video in and of itself is not definitive proof that Zaire Jackson was chasing after Irvin Jackson up Moses Alley toward Murray Street, which is the area where the victim was fatally shot once in the head. A ballistics report shows police found a projectile in the victim’s head and one embedded in the ground near the victim’s body, according to Lember.

Days after the April 2012 murder, detectives told Jackson they had cellphone tower data on his whereabouts, but the reality is that it was not until 2013 when police finally obtained a warrant to get access to Jackson’s cellphone records.

Contrary to what he previously said, Peterson on Tuesday admitted he had never believed Jackson acted in self-defense and said police wouldn’t have set the defendant free if he had confessed to murder.

Police say events that transpired on Easter Sunday 2012 — when Zaire Jackson got into a fight earlier in the day and later was relaxing inside a house that got shot up in the night — prompted the defendant to allegedly settle a beef by murdering Irvin Jackson.

The murder trial is scheduled to resume Wednesday morning at the Mercer County Criminal Courthouse.

Nearly five years ago, a then-17-year-old Zaire Jackson allegedly shot and killed a city man execution style.

Jackson, now 22, will finally have his day in court to defend himself before a jury of his peers.

Jury selection began Tuesday at the Mercer County Criminal Courthouse for Jackson’s imminent murder trial.

Jackson, a Trenton resident also known as “Philly” and “Cory,” is accused of shooting at 22-year-old Irvin “Swirv” Jackson in broad daylight and then chasing the victim down and fatally shooting him in the head April 9, 2012.

Irvin Jackson, who was not related to the defendant, died in a West Ward alleyway off North Hermitage Avenue.

Zaire Jackson has been charged with murder, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a weapon.

Retired Superior Court Judge Andrew Smithson has been recalled to the bench to preside over Jackson’s trial.

Meanwhile, the murder retrial for alleged killer Isiah Greene remains in limbo as a jury on Tuesday indicated it was nowhere near reaching a verdict.

“At this time we are unable to reach a unanimous decision,” the 12-member jury said Tuesday afternoon in a written message read aloud by Superior Court Judge Anthony Massi.

With the jury at an impasse, Massi instructed the jurors to continue deliberating for the rest of the afternoon, reminding them that “each of you must decide the case for yourself” and that “you are not partisans; you are judges of the facts.”

Despite Massi’s motivational pep talk, the jurors remained at an impasse and the judge excused the jury for the day about 4 p.m. Tuesday and instructed them to return at 9:15 a.m. Wednesday for continued deliberations.

Like Zaire Jackson, Greene, 23, of Trenton, has been charged with murder and weapons offenses for a crime he allegedly committed when he was a teenager. Greene has been accused of shooting and killing 24-year-old city man “Ace” Quaadir Gurley at the city’s Donnelly Homes housing complex in the early morning hours of July 21, 2013.

Greene’s initial murder trial in October 2015 ended in a mistrial as 12 jurors failed to unanimously decide whether he was guilty or not guilty. His retrial could prove to be déjà vu.

Defendant Zaire Jackson listens to testimony at his murder trial in Mercer County Superior Court on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017. (GREGG SLABODA — The Trentonian)

A threatening “snitch letter” that a Mercer County Correction Center inmate received that was allegedly intended to intimidate him from testifying in Zaire Jackson’s murder trial was not handwritten by the defendant.

J. Wright Leonard, a high-profile board certified forensic document examiner, testified Wednesday at Jackson’s murder trial that a comparative analysis of the defendant’s handwriting versus the handwriting of the so-called “snitch letter” has led her to conclude that Jackson did not write the threatening note.

Prosecutors have alleged that Jackson, also known as “Philly” and “Cory,” wrote the letter or had an associate write it and send it to Casey Corker to scare him out of testifying against him.

“You a dead man walking,” reads a portion of the letter Corker received when he was incarcerated at the county lockup. “If you go to IA [internal affairs], I know.”

Although Leonard determined that someone other than Jackson wrote the letter, she conceded under cross-examination that she “cannot dispute” the possibility that someone can “dictate” a letter for someone else to handwrite.

Jackson, 22, is accused of shooting and killing 22-year-old Irvin “Swirv” Jackson in broad daylight on Monday, April 9, 2012, which was the day after Easter Sunday. Zaire Jackson, who was not related to the victim, was 17 years old when the victim was gunned down in an alleyway off North Hermitage Avenue in Trenton.

Jackson’s aunt, Tanika Cromwell, testified under oath at Jackson’s murder trial on Wednesday and said her nephew and Irvin “Swirv” Jackson were “sociable” and well-acquainted with each other.

Zaire Jackson used to live with Cromwell at her former Rowan Towers residence at 620 West State Street in Trenton.

Cromwell said she knew Irvin Jackson and said Irvin Jackson and Zaire Jackson grew up together and often stayed at her house along with her biological children.

Cromwell said she witnessed Zaire Jackson get into a fight with an acquaintance named Kevin Robinson at a city park on Easter Sunday 2012. She said the fight lasted “a couple of seconds” at that she did not see her nephew in possession of a handgun during the physical altercation.

Robinson, Irvin “Swirv” Jackson, and another young man stayed overnight at Cromwell’s house on Easter Sunday 2012 and left during the early morning hours of Monday, April 9, 2012, she testified.

Meanwhile, Zaire “Cory” Jackson on that Easter Sunday night was staying at a house on Murray Street that was shot up.

If there was any beef, gripe or feud between Zaire Jackson and Irvin Jackson, Cromwell said she had no knowledge of any animosity between the two acquaintances.

Shortly after the victim was shot and killed execution style, the word on the street was that Zaire Jackson murdered Irvin Jackson. Cromwell said she had heard the talk of the streets but testified that she does not believe everything she hears on the streets.

With the Jackson murder trial winding down and Thursday expected to unleash inclement weather, the trial is expected to resume either on Friday or next Tuesday at Superior Court Judge Andrew Smithson’s courtroom.

Andrew Alston

The alleged gunman in last November’s fatal Lyft robbery has pleaded not guilty to all charges as the state made a motion Wednesday seeking to keep him locked up indefinitely.

Fresh after Tuesday’s high-profile arrest, 39-year-old Andrew Alston made his first appearance in court Wednesday via video conference and told a judge he understands the charges against him and understands his rights as a defendant.

Alston has been charged with being an accomplice to felony murder, robbery and weapons offenses in connection with the murder of Amber Dudley, 27, of Collingswood. Public defender Jessica Lyons said her client Alston entered a plea of not guilty on all complaints against him.

Alston is the alleged gunman who fired a shot while robbing passengers of a Lyft rideshare service in Trenton on the night of Nov. 30, 2016. Co-defendants Kasey DeZolt, 32, and Dominique Richter, 31, were arrested last month as alleged accomplices to the murder of Dudley.

New bail reform procedures in New Jersey have abolished monetary bails in favor of a system that allows freshly arrested defendants to be released from jail with special conditions pending the outcome of the case. But defendants charged with serious offenses such as murder can be denied pre-trial release and remain detained indefinitely if a judge deems that appropriate.

With Alston being an alleged killer, Mercer County prosecutors on Wednesday made clear they want him to remain locked up in jail pending resolution of the case, which could drag on for months or years before it finally gets resolved with a conviction or acquittal.

As such, the prosecutors and public defender have agreed to have Alston appear in court next Tuesday for a detention hearing that would determine whether he would be released from custody pre-trial with special conditions or remain incarcerated indefinitely.

Superior Court Judge Peter Warshaw is scheduled to oversee Alston’s detention hearing next Tuesday at the Mercer County Criminal Courthouse. If the judge determines Alston is a high flight risk or if the judge determines there is no condition of release that would safeguard the public from Alston, he would most certainly order the defendant to be detained indefinitely at the Mercer County Correction Center.

Alston’s public defender made a discovery request Wednesday seeking to obtain evidence that the state has against her client.

Isiah Greene

In other court action, a 12-member jury on Wednesday still could not reach a verdict in Isiah Greene’s murder retrial. Greene, 23, of Trenton, is accused of shooting and killing 24-year-old city man Quaadir “Ace” Gurley at the city’s Donnelly Homes housing complex in the early morning hours of July 21, 2013.

Isiah Greene

During deliberations Wednesday afternoon, the jury stepped into Superior Court Judge Anthony Massi’s courtroom for several minutes to listen to prior witness testimony in the case of an emergency medical technician, which the jurors requested.

The jury will continue with its fourth full day of deliberations Thursday morning behind closed doors at the criminal courthouse. Greene’s initial trial in October 2015 ended in a hung jury and his retrial may end in the same way at the rate things are going.

Defense attorney Steven Lember (left) and defendant Zaire Jackson listen to testimony at Jackson’s murder trial in Mercer County Superior Court. (GREGG SLABODA — The Trentonian)

The fate of alleged killer Zaire Jackson hangs in the balance as a jury of his peers deliberates on whether he is guilty or not guilty of murder.

Jackson, 22, of Trenton, has been charged with murder, unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose on allegations he knowingly procured a handgun without a permit and used it to kill an acquaintance who had disrespected him.

The victim of the slaying, 22-year-old Irvin “Swirv” Jackson, was shot in the head and killed in broad daylight at 1:59 p.m. Monday, April 9, 2012, on Moses Alley near North Hermitage Avenue in Trenton. Zaire Jackson, who was not related to the victim, was 17 years old when the murder occurred.

In the criminal trial, all 12 jurors must be unanimously and firmly convinced beyond a reasonable doubt of Jackson’s guilt on each charge to convict him on all counts. Likewise, all 12 jurors must unanimously have reasonable doubt about the defendant’s guilt to acquit him.

In closing arguments Tuesday morning, Jackson’s pool attorney Steven Lember asked the jurors to return a verdict of not guilty on all three counts, saying his client had no motive to murder the victim and that the state’s case is “full of holes” that introduce reasonable doubt into the equation.

Lember said the state has relied upon two “so-called eyewitnesses” in its prosecution of Jackson — testimony from criminal defendants Casey Corker and Robert Patterson — and said they are “two of the least reliable” witnesses who could ever be called to testify in a court of law.

“Both of them say initially they didn’t see the shooting,” Lember said of Corker and Patterson, adding both of them later changed their tune after they got arrested. Surveillance footage at the intersection of North Hermitage Avenue and Moses Alley “simply doesn’t support what these eyewitnesses say occurred,” Lember said of the two witnesses who had identified Jackson as the killer. “They made it up.”

“Reputation, respect and revenge: That is what this case is about,” Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Skylar Weissman said in his closing arguments Tuesday.

Zaire Jackson, also known as “Cory” and “Philly,” had “dealt drugs to hustle,” Weissman said. “He had a reputation to uphold.”

Weissman said the defendant, days after the murder, told police in an interview that he was arguing with Irvin Jackson on Easter Sunday, April 8, 2012. The assistant prosecutor accused the defendant of being armed and “walking around with a weapon” on that “holiday day.”

Later that day inside a city home, a man known as “Techs” placed a gun to Zaire Jackson’s head, and Jackson believed Irvin Jackson was responsible for Techs being at the house, Weissman said.

Then when Zaire Jackson was relaxing inside another Trenton house that was shot up later that evening — a shooting that almost struck him in the eye — the defendant believed Irvin Jackson was one of the individuals responsible for that shooting, Weismann said.

“This is all about respect, all about reputation,” he said. “He has to show he’s this tough guy, that he makes money.”

Following an eventful Easter Sunday, cellphone records show Zaire Jackson’s mobile device went “silent” from 12:30 p.m. to 2:03 p.m. on Monday, April 9, 2012, and further show he fled into Bucks County, Pennsylvania, following the 1:59 p.m. slaying, Weissman said, adding, “Phone records don’t lie, ladies and gentlemen.”

The jurors began deliberating Tuesday afternoon following closing arguments and jury instructions. The jurors, however, did not reach a verdict on Tuesday, prompting Superior Court Judge Andrew Smithson to dismiss the jurors for the day and instruct them to continue their backroom deliberations at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Defendant Zaire Jackson listens to testimony at his murder trial in Mercer County Superior Court on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017. (GREGG SLABODA — The Trentonian)

Zaire Jackson breathed a sigh of relief Friday in a Mercer County Court after he was found not guilty on all three counts against him at his homicide trial. The charges were murder, unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose on allegations he knowingly procuring a handgun without a permit.

After the first not guilty was uttered in the court room Jackson's family reacted out loud despite the judge's instruction to refrain from doing so. The victim's family left the courtroom, too overcome to watch the remainder of the proceedings.

Jackson appeared relieved and hugged defense attorney Steven Lember before leaving the court room.
The jury reached its verdict after submitting two questions regarding possession of the weapon. Jurors wrestled with the concept of whether or not Jackson possessed the gun before he was arrested on April 9, 2012. The jury began deliberations on Tuesday.

Despite their struggle, the jury returned the not guilty verdict around 1 p.m. on Friday.
Jackson was accused in the broad daylight killing of , 22-year-old Irvin “Swirv” Jackson, Monday, April 9, 2012, on Moses Alley near North Hermitage Avenue in Trenton. Zaire Jackson, who was not related to the victim, was 17 years old at the time of the murder.

The verdict followed a contentious trial where Jackson's attorney claimed the state's case was full of holes.
Jackson's attorney, Steven Lember, said that regardless of the outcome, he still feels for the victim's family. He added that his client had already done four years in jail while awaiting for trial. He said that in any event this remains a tragedy for both families.

On the verdict, assistant prosecutor Skylar Weissman said, "the jury has spoken. We feel for the family."
He added that despite the outcome, "a young man is dead."

A Trenton man who took a plea deal in connection with his involvement in the 2013 slaying of 19-year-old Rayshawn Ransom was sentenced Friday.

Dyquise Leonard had previously pled guilty to one count of attempted murder for which he would be sentenced to 12 years in prison. On Friday a Mercer County Judge imposed the term of 12 years the plea deal called for. Leonard will have to serve 10 years and two months before he is able to be released. He was sentenced concurrently to 5 years on another file.

Rayshawn Ransom

“There are certain things that have happened and occurred within my life, and within my family’s life that I can . . . say ‘Hey, I would like to have justice done today in regards to my son’s life,” Raymond Salter-Ransom, said as he addressed the court. “Because I cannot hug my son, I cannot hold my son, and I can’t look at my son unless I look at pictures . . . his life was tooken away, my breath was tooken away and so has my wife’s and my other children.”

Ransom asked for justice and demanded the court do what was right.

“I say to you, your honor, to lead by example in reference to this goddamn court,” Ransom said asking the court to excuse his language. “Set an example on behalf of the state of New Jersey, my son is gone. Can’t nobody bring my son back. He [Leonard] can’t bring my son back, because it happened and he was a part of the ordeal that occurred.”

Ransom’s attorney addressed the family stating that it was a very sad day for everyone.

“Sad day? You cannot bring my son back, neither can he.” Ransom yelled in court.

When offered the opportunity to speak, Leonard didn’t offer consoling words.

“I just want to say that the charge I’m copping out to does not have nothing to do with their son whatsoever,” Leonard said. “The weapon was not even found, so.”

Continuing on with the statement that his charge had nothing to do with Ransom’s death, an angered Raymond Ransom let out another outburst. “My son is gone, yo.”

Apparently responding to Ransom, Leonard said “I ain’t had nothing to do with that.”

“My charge is attempted murder. I had not been charged with nothing to do with your son’s death,” Leonard said. “I still feel remorse for him, but the charge I’m copping out for today has nothing to do with the death of his son.”
The judge interjected asking if this testimony was consistent with the plea colloquy.

Assistant Prosecutor Stephanie Katz explained that Leonard had pled guilty to the charge of attempted murder, he had shot a separate weapon during the same time when shots that did kill Ransom were fired.

“It was all in the same incident, [Leonard’s] gun was not attached to the actual projectile that struck and killed Mr. Ransom,” Katz said. “Certainly he’s part of that incident if he could plead to the attempted murder.”

Leonard was charged along with Alton Jones and Marquis Skillman following the shooting death of Ransom, 19, who was gunned down while he sat in a car with friends on Passaic Street.

Jones admitted to the shooting death of Ransom and the murder of Tierra Green, he was sentenced to 38 years in prison on September 9, 2016. Marquis Skillman pled guilty to first-degree robbery in connection with Ransom’s death. Skillman received a sentence of 11 years in prison on the robbery charge.

Trenton police investigate a murder in the 100 block of Hudson Street Wednesday afternoon. The victim is on the ground behind the black curtain. (Gregg Slaboda - Trentonian)

A resident who lives at the intersection of Hudson Street and Hamilton Avenue returned home from picking up her child from school and found crime scene tape blocking the entrance to her home; about 10 shell casings littered the ground in front of her door.

"I was afraid for my child's life," the woman who asked to remain anonymous said.

A man was shot and killed Wednesday afternoon, marking the second homicide to occur in the capital city this year.

If the shooting had happened 15 to 20 minutes later than it did, kids would have occupied the area. The aforementioned woman returned home minutes after the shooting occurred.

Officials say the victim is a white male in his 50s; his name is being withheld pending family notification. He was pronounced dead at the scene around 3:40 p.m.

A man was murdered near the intersection of Hudson Street and Hamilton Avenue. (submitted photo)

The circumstances surrounding the shooting remain under investigation, but sources told The Trentonian law enforcement believe the suspect was on Hamilton Avenue shooting toward the intersection of Hudson and Bayard.

The victim was struck at least once in the chest, and his body was found about a block away from where officials believe the gunman stood. The victim's purple BMW was parked nearby.

Sources say there may have been multiple gunmen involved. Sources also say there's a possibility the victim was not the intended target of the shooting. But police could not provide any further preliminary information as of press time.

Payten Mcleod, owner of the On Time Equipment auto repair shop at the intersection of Hamilton and Hudson, stood outside his business with several associates and expressed frustration about how Trenton’s ongoing violence affects his bottom line.

“This is crazy,” he said, adding he did not see but only heard the gunplay. “My business is getting slower and slower because of this. I’ve been here almost three years trying to get this spot up and running. I can’t make it. We don’t have anyone supporting us. We are trying to serve the community, and they are trying to run us away.”

Residents watched police conduct the homicide investigation Wednesday evening. Some of them, including parents who escorted young children by hand, appeared shell-shocked as they walked down the normally busy Hamilton Avenue in the minutes and hours following the shooting.

Police used manpower, law enforcement vehicles and crime tape to control the scene. Police SUVs blocked a stretch of Hamilton Avenue from South Clinton to Whittaker Avenue. Yellow cones littered the scene next to shell casings, marking evidence of a wild shooting.

Anyone with information about the murder is asked to call the Mercer County Homicide Task Force at (609) 989-6406. Or contact the Trenton Police confidential tip line at (609) 989-3663. Individuals may also call the Trenton Crime Stoppers tip line at (609) 278-8477. Those wishing to text a tip can send a message labeled TCSTIPS to Trenton Crime Stoppers at 274637.

Trentonian staff writer Sulaiman Abdur-Rahman contributed to this report.

Police guard a purple BMW that belongs to a murder victim. Feb. 22, 2017 (Sulaiman Abdur-Rahman - Trentonian)

Michael Brancolino Jr. (Facebook photo)

The man who was gunned down in broad daylight Wednesday afternoon has been identified as 53-year-old Michael Brancolino Jr.

Brancolino was shot and killed near the intersection of Hudson Street and Hamilton Avenue around 3:40 p.m. He was struck at least once in the chest, and his body was found about a block away from where officials believe the gunman stood. Brancolino's purple BMW was parked nearby.

Sources say there may have been multiple gunmen involved in the murder. Sources also say there's a possibility Brancolino was not the intended target of the shooting. Police SUVs blocked a stretch of Hamilton Avenue from South Clinton to Whittaker Avenue Wednesday evening, and yellow cones littered the scene next to shell casings, marking evidence of a wild shooting.

Payten Mcleod, owner of the On Time Equipment auto repair shop at the intersection of Hamilton and Hudson, said he also believes there were more than one shooter. He said he was working in his shop when the shots rang out, and that his young daughter started crying because she believed someone was shooting at him.

"It sounded like more than one shooter," Mcleod said. "Those guys didn't care what they were doing. They were just shooting like a movie. I know a lot of people who say they're not coming to Trenton because there's too much shooting, and I can't blame them."

Mcleod moved to Trenton from Jamaica about five years ago and started his auto shop from scratch. He said violence in the capital city seems senseless compared to violence in his native country, where people usually know why someone is trying to kill them.

"In Jamaica we don't kill like that," Mcleod said. "We have a little more love. We don't kill for nothing. In Jamaica you'll know why someone is trying to kill you."

He also believes young American kids take life for granted.

"These kids have material possessions before they're born and they take it for granted; it's crazy," Mcleod said. "They need to take a trip. When you travel you recognize what you're living for, what you're on this Earth for, and you stop taking things for granted. Life is more serious than what people think."

Brancolino was well known within the community and local residents expressed sadness about his death on social media, acknowledging that life is precious.

"RIP Michael Brancolino Jr. gonna miss you bud," Andrew Martino wrote on Facebook. "One of kind for sure, say hi to my POPS for me, you guys back at it again. Love ya bud."

Michael Brancolino Jr. (submitted photo)

"RIP to my cousin Michael Brancolino Jr. so happy we just caught up!" Stacie Bencivengo wrote Thursday morning.

"He always had a way of making us all feel better," Theresa DiMattia Dalanas wrote.

The circumstances surrounding the shooting remain under investigation and no one has been arrested in connection with the killing as of press time.

Anyone with information about the murder is asked to call the Mercer County Homicide Task Force at (609) 989-6406. Or contact the Trenton Police confidential tip line at (609) 989-3663. Individuals may also call the Trenton Crime Stoppers tip line at (609) 278-8477. Those wishing to text a tip can send a message labeled TCSTIPS to Trenton Crime Stoppers at 274637.

Andrew Alston

When police arrested Andrew Alston last week in connection with last November’s fatal Lyft robbery, the 39-year-old Trenton man was found in alleged possession of drugs and a handgun.

On Tuesday, Alston appeared in court and consented to the state’s request calling for him to be incarcerated indefinitely without bail at the county jail as he awaits trial on serious charges.

Alston, who has a long rap sheet of prior arrests, has been charged with being an accomplice to felony murder, robbery and weapons offenses in connection with the murder of Amber Dudley, 27, of Collingswood. Public defender Jessica Lyons has previously said her client Alston pleads not guilty on all complaints against him. Alston has also been charged with additional weapons offenses and multiple drug offenses stemming from his Jan. 24 arrest.

Court records identify Mercer County Sheriff’s Detective James Udijohn as the arresting officer. Udijohn last year earned accolades as the 2016 Sheriff’s Officer of the Year and in August 2015 was involved in a high-profile police-involved shooting that wounded a Trenton teenager.

When Mercer County Superior Court Judge Peter Warshaw asked Alston how he was doing in court Tuesday afternoon, Alston responded, “I’m doing fine.”

Wearing a cream-colored jacket on top of his orange jumpsuit, Alston seemed eager to consent to indefinite pre-trial incarceration during Tuesday’s detention hearing.

“It’s a significant hearing,” Warshaw told Alston. “This has nothing to do with guilt or innocence. [This is about] deciding whether you are detained pending trial without bail.”

“If I waive all of that, I can just get on to the trial part?” Alston asked.

“The goal is to have the case tried within a year,” the judge responded.

Alston is the alleged gunman who fired a shot while robbing passengers of a Lyft rideshare service in Trenton on the night of Nov. 30, 2016. Co-defendants Kasey DeZolt, 32, and Dominique Richter, 31, were arrested last month as alleged accomplices to the murder of Dudley.

Kasey DeZolt (left) and Dominique Richter

Alston has previously served time behind bars on robbery, theft and drug charges, among other offenses.

Before police issued a warrant for Alston’s arrest in late December 2016, he gave a formal statement to police on Dec, 7, 2016, according to his public defender who has demanded “discovery” access to evidence against her client, including area video surveillance footage and phone records in the felony murder case.

New bail reform procedures in New Jersey have displaced monetary bails in favor of a risk-based-assessment system that allows freshly arrested defendants to be released from jail on their own recognizance or released on special conditions pending the outcome of the case. But defendants charged with serious offenses such as murder can be denied pre-trial release and remain detained indefinitely if a judge deems that appropriate.

A judge in certain cases can impose a monetary bail on newly arrested defendants, but the new reforms strongly discourage a judge from going in that direction.

A man was stabbed to death Monday evening inside a city home.

Officials say it's too early to provide further details at this time, but a man was found inside a home on Clearfield Avenue suffering from at least one stab wound. He was later pronounced dead.

Police were dispatched to the home around 4:45 p.m., but they're not certain what time the incident happened.

Police say the killing may be a domestic incident.

Robert Bartley

A city man who shot and killed a retired Trenton cop’s son in cold blood has been sentenced to 25 years in state prison.

Admitted killer Robert Bartley, 26, received the expected quarter-century sentence last Friday before New Jersey Superior Court Judge Robert Billmeier. In September 2014 Bartley pleaded guilty to firing a lethal gunshot into the chest of 18-year-old James Austin.

Austin was the father of two children — twin daughters — and he was also the son of former Trenton Police Sgt. Luddie Austin. Bartley armed himself with a weapon and gunned down James Austin during the afternoon of Feb. 26, 2013, on the 900 block of East State Street in Trenton.

Bartley previously reached an agreement with prosecutors to serve 25 years behind bars in exchange for pleading guilty and testifying in court against Raheem Currie, the other defendant who had played a role in Austin’s slaying.

Raheem Currie

Currie, who turns 25 on Saturday, is currently serving out a 23-year prison sentence at Garden State Youth Correctional Facility for a jury of his peers finding him guilty last summer of first degree aggravated manslaughter in connection with Austin’s death.

Bartley and Currie are cousins and both resided on the 600 block of Greenwood Avenue in Trenton.

Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Jim Scott tried the case against Bartley, who was represented by defense attorney Caroline Turner.

Briann Lindsey

The man who was stabbed to death in the capital city Monday evening has been identified as 35-year-old Christopher Johnson and his girlfriend has been charged in connection with his murder.

His girlfriend also tried to mislead detectives when they questioned her about the fatality.

Police were dispatched to the couple's apartment in the 300 block of Clearfield Avenue around 4:15 p.m. Monday. Officials say 25-year-old Briann Lindsey was at the apartment when police arrived and found Johnson dead.

Sources say Lindsey initially told police her boyfriend — identified as Johnson — had left the apartment and was stabbed in an unknown location. She told police Johnson walked back to Clearfield Avenue and collapsed dead in the apartment.

After detectives discussed the matter, sources say, they realized something about that story seemed fishy. Police then took Lindsey to police headquarters where they presumably learned the truth.

Officials have not disclosed a motive for the killing, but Lindsey is charged with murder and related weapons offenses.

Christopher Johnson (submitted photo)

Prosecutors say the investigation revealed Lindsey stabbed Johnson in the kitchen area of their Brookville Commons apartment, and that he collapsed in the hallway. Prosecutors also say Lindsey tried to clean up the crime scene prior to police arrival.

During her first court appearance via video conference, Lindsey was wrapped in a gray blanket and hung her head low the entire time. When a Mercer County judge asked whether she understood the charges against her, the woman accused of killing her boyfriend remained silent.

When pressed by her attorney, public defender Tom Belsky who said she must answer the question, Lindsey began sobbing. Eventually, she squeaked out a "Yes, sir," and continued crying. She struggled with that same type of response two more times to the judge's questions.

Lindsey is scheduled for a detention hearing March 9.

After learning news about his death, several of Johnson's family and friends expressed sorrow on social media.

"Please pray for his mother and sister and the rest of the family," Johnson's cousin Richard Montgomery wrote on Facebook. "Now I lost two cousins to murder."

Trentonian staff writer David Foster contributed to this report.

Brookville Commons in Trenton was the scene of a fatal stabbing Monday night. (David Foster - The Trentonian)

Police guard the scene of a hit-and-run fatality Tuesday morning. (Penny Ray - Trentonian)

The capital city has experienced a deadly 24-hour period.

A 39-year-old woman from Pennsylvania was struck by a hit-and-run driver Tuesday morning and later died at the hospital.

The accident happened in nearly the exact same spot where a man lost his leg Sunday morning after an alleged drunk driver hit and pinned him between two cars.

A man who identified himself as the manager of Benny's bar near the location of both accident scenes said, "They speed too much. The sign says 25 mph and they be doing 50 mph."

Officials say Tuesday's hit-and-run happened around 12:30 a.m. in the 600 block of North Olden Avenue.

Based on evidence left at the scene, police believe the driver was in a silver Saturn with black pinstriping. Officials expect the car will have heavy front-end damage.

If the driver of the vehicle is apprehended, he or she will likely be charged with death by auto.

According to the New Jersey State Police Uniform Crime Reporting Unit, vehicular homicides are considered manslaughter and are, therefore, not reported as a homicide statistic.

The Trentonian, however, includes death by auto and justifiable police shootings in its yearly homicide count.

Two serious automobile accidents have occurred outside of Benny's bar within the past three days. On Sunday morning, a 30-year-old man was standing outside of his car near Benny's, as if he was about to enter the vehicle, when Ivelisse Bassat allegedly sped through the area, lost control of her car and hit both the victim and his legally parked Chevy Camaro. The victim's left leg was severed from his body after being pinned between the two vehicles.

Police were still guarding the site of the hit-and-run crash Tuesday afternoon, 12 hours after the accident. Perhaps the police presence also controlled the speed of traffic in the area.

"They go too fast up and down that bridge," the bar manager said.

So far this year, four people have been killed in the capital city. Monday night, 35-year-old Christopher Johnson from South Brunswick was stabbed to death inside a Brookville Commons apartment. His girlfriend Briann Lindsey was charged in connection with his murder.

Anyone with information about the hit-and-run fatality is asked to call police at 609-989-4155.

The victim's identity is being withheld pending family notification.

A local resident says motorists continually speed across the bridge in the 600 block of North Olden Avenue. (Penny Ray - Trentonian)

Police guard the scene of a hit-and-run fatality Tuesday morning. (Penny Ray - Trentonian)

The woman who was killed by a hit-and-run driver early Tuesday morning has been identified as 39-year-old Lea Pringle, of Yardley, Pennsylvania.

Pringle was hit in nearly the exact same spot where a man lost his leg earlier this week after an alleged drunk driver hit and pinned him between two cars.

Officials say Pringle was struck by a motorist around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday in the 600 block of North Olden Avenue, just outside of Benny’s bar. She later died at the hospital.

Lea Pringle (Facebook photo)

Based on evidence left at the scene, police believe the driver was in a silver Saturn with black pinstriping. Officials expect the car will have heavy front-end damage.

A man who identified himself as the manager of Benny’s said motorists continually speed through the area, which consists of residential housing on both sides of the street, and regularly has several cars parked outside of homes.

In fact, a man was entering his legally parked Chevy Camaro earlier this week when an alleged drunk driver struck him at a high rate of speed, pinning him between the two cars and severing his left leg from his body.

Anyone with information about the driver that hit Pringle is asked to call police at 609-989-4155.

Andrew Alston

When police arrested Andrew Alston last week in connection with last November’s fatal Lyft robbery, the 39-year-old Trenton man was found in alleged possession of drugs and a handgun.

On Tuesday, Alston appeared in court and consented to the state’s request calling for him to be incarcerated indefinitely without bail at the county jail as he awaits trial on serious charges.

Alston, who has a long rap sheet of prior arrests, has been charged with being an accomplice to felony murder, robbery and weapons offenses in connection with the murder of Amber Dudley, 27, of Collingswood. Public defender Jessica Lyons has previously said her client Alston pleads not guilty on all complaints against him. Alston has also been charged with additional weapons offenses and multiple drug offenses stemming from his Jan. 24 arrest.

Court records identify Mercer County Sheriff’s Detective James Udijohn as the arresting officer. Udijohn last year earned accolades as the 2016 Sheriff’s Officer of the Year and in August 2015 was involved in a high-profile police-involved shooting that wounded a Trenton teenager.

When Mercer County Superior Court Judge Peter Warshaw asked Alston how he was doing in court Tuesday afternoon, Alston responded, “I’m doing fine.”

Wearing a cream-colored jacket on top of his orange jumpsuit, Alston seemed eager to consent to indefinite pre-trial incarceration during Tuesday’s detention hearing.

“It’s a significant hearing,” Warshaw told Alston. “This has nothing to do with guilt or innocence. [This is about] deciding whether you are detained pending trial without bail.”

“If I waive all of that, I can just get on to the trial part?” Alston asked.

“The goal is to have the case tried within a year,” the judge responded.

Alston is the alleged gunman who fired a shot while robbing passengers of a Lyft rideshare service in Trenton on the night of Nov. 30, 2016. Co-defendants Kasey DeZolt, 32, and Dominique Richter, 31, were arrested last month as alleged accomplices to the murder of Dudley.

Kasey DeZolt (left) and Dominique Richter

Alston has previously served time behind bars on robbery, theft and drug charges, among other offenses.

Before police issued a warrant for Alston’s arrest in late December 2016, he gave a formal statement to police on Dec, 7, 2016, according to his public defender who has demanded “discovery” access to evidence against her client, including area video surveillance footage and phone records in the felony murder case.

New bail reform procedures in New Jersey have displaced monetary bails in favor of a risk-based-assessment system that allows freshly arrested defendants to be released from jail on their own recognizance or released on special conditions pending the outcome of the case. But defendants charged with serious offenses such as murder can be denied pre-trial release and remain detained indefinitely if a judge deems that appropriate.

A judge in certain cases can impose a monetary bail on newly arrested defendants, but the new reforms strongly discourage a judge from going in that direction.

Marquis Skillman

Two Trenton men charged in separate murder cases will serve hard time behind bars.

Marquis Skillman, 30, received an 11-year prison sentence last week for his role in the 2013 shooting death of Rayshawn Ransom while Tomarkus Whitfield, 39, received a sentence of 19 years and six months in the slammer for killing Pinkey Priester in 2014.

Under Skillman’s plea deal, he admitted guilt to robbery and a weapons offense in exchange for prosecutors dismissing murder charges against him. Skillman was one of the three men charged in connection with the slaying of Ransom, 19, on June 12, 2013, in the city of Trenton.

The other defendants in the case were Alton Jones, 25, who pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter, and Dyquise Leonard, also 25, who has pleaded guilty to attempted murder. Prosecutors say Jones is the defendant who fired the shot that killed Ransom.

Skillman, who was represented by private attorney Michael Kuhns, must serve nine years and four months in state prison before he is eligible for parole.

Tomarkus Whitfield

Whitfield pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter, extreme indifference to human life, in exchange for prosecutors dismissing his murder charges and weapons offenses. He shot and killed 33-year-old Priester in Trenton on June 16, 2014. The self-confessed killer was represented by pool attorney Ronald Garzio in the criminal proceedings that ended with Whitfield receiving nearly 20 years of imprisonment.

Zaire Jackson listens to testimony at his murder trial on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017. (GREGG SLABODA — The Trentonian)

When Zaire Jackson was 17 years old, two detectives at Trenton Police headquarters questioned him extensively in hopes of getting the city teenager to confess to murder.

The officers warned Jackson that he would eventually have a criminal trial and told him the jurors would want to know if he was a “ruthless thug” or a person who “just made a mistake” in the shooting death of 22-year-old Irvin “Swirv” Jackson.

“I didn’t do it,” Zaire Jackson, who was not related to the victim, said during the intense police interview on April 20, 2012.

Jackson, now 22, continues to deny any wrongdoing as he defends himself in a court of law on allegations he murdered Irvin Jackson in broad daylight on Monday, April 9, 2012, which was the day after Easter Sunday.

The trial

On Tuesday in Superior Court Judge Andrew Smithson’s courtroom, the jury in Zaire Jackson’s murder trial viewed the video recording of Jackson’s April 2012 interview with police — a lengthy session that defense attorney Steven Lember described as “an interrogation.”

Trenton Police Detective Scott Peterson and Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office investigator James Francis in the video used a variety of techniques, including fabrications about evidence, to get Jackson to crack, but the defendant did not take the bait.

The officers told Jackson that “a lot of people” saw him running past Hermitage Avenue and up Moses Alley with a gun in his hand. The officers also implied that multiple surveillance systems captured Jackson on camera and suggested that they had data from cellphone towers proving he was at the scene where the victim was shot and killed execution style.

“I ain’t kill Swirv,” Jackson said in the police interview.

“Yeah you did, bro,” one of the officers said in response.

“You did something stupid, man,” one of the detectives said.

“I didn’t kill him. Feel me?” Jackson said in response.

“If you keep telling yourself, you’ll eventually believe it. … I believe it was self-defense. You are 17 years old. Let me help you,” one of the officers said to Jackson.

“I ain’t do it. I wasn’t there,” Jackson said in response.

The officers told Jackson he could set himself free by telling the truth and told him he was a “cold-blooded killer” who needed to “accept responsibility” for the victim’s death.

“I didn’t do it,” Jackson said after about two hours of questioning from police.

“All right,” an officer said in response. “I know that you did, though.”

Cross-examination

Nearly five years after questioning the defendant at police headquarters, Detective Peterson testified as a witness under oath Tuesday at Jackson’s murder trial.

Steve Lember, who is representing Jackson as his pool attorney, on Tuesday cross-examined Peterson in ways that got the detective to admit he had used techniques of fabrication in a failed attempt to get Jackson to confess to the murder.

“You wanted to see that my client was guilty, because you believed he was guilty,” Lember said to Peterson. “You lied to my client repeatedly in that interrogation.”

Police only had one low-quality video that appears to show a person running up Moses Alley from North Hermitage Avenue in Trenton’s West Ward. Mercer County Assistant Prosecutors Skylar Weissman and Mike Mennuti played that video in court Tuesday, giving the jurors a chance to see what was happening at the intersection of North Hermitage and Moses Alley in the moments before and after a shooter killed Irvin “Swirv” Jackson.

Peterson on the witness stand described it as a “very poor” and “choppy” video and conceded the video in and of itself is not definitive proof that Zaire Jackson was chasing after Irvin Jackson up Moses Alley toward Murray Street, which is the area where the victim was fatally shot once in the head. A ballistics report shows police found a projectile in the victim’s head and one embedded in the ground near the victim’s body, according to Lember.

Days after the April 2012 murder, detectives told Jackson they had cellphone tower data on his whereabouts, but the reality is that it was not until 2013 when police finally obtained a warrant to get access to Jackson’s cellphone records.

Contrary to what he previously said, Peterson on Tuesday admitted he had never believed Jackson acted in self-defense and said police wouldn’t have set the defendant free if he had confessed to murder.

Police say events that transpired on Easter Sunday 2012 — when Zaire Jackson got into a fight earlier in the day and later was relaxing inside a house that got shot up in the night — prompted the defendant to allegedly settle a beef by murdering Irvin Jackson.

The murder trial is scheduled to resume Wednesday morning at the Mercer County Criminal Courthouse.

Defendant Zaire Jackson listens to testimony at his murder trial in Mercer County Superior Court on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017. (GREGG SLABODA — The Trentonian)

A threatening “snitch letter” that a Mercer County Correction Center inmate received that was allegedly intended to intimidate him from testifying in Zaire Jackson’s murder trial was not handwritten by the defendant.

J. Wright Leonard, a high-profile board certified forensic document examiner, testified Wednesday at Jackson’s murder trial that a comparative analysis of the defendant’s handwriting versus the handwriting of the so-called “snitch letter” has led her to conclude that Jackson did not write the threatening note.

Prosecutors have alleged that Jackson, also known as “Philly” and “Cory,” wrote the letter or had an associate write it and send it to Casey Corker to scare him out of testifying against him.

“You a dead man walking,” reads a portion of the letter Corker received when he was incarcerated at the county lockup. “If you go to IA [internal affairs], I know.”

Although Leonard determined that someone other than Jackson wrote the letter, she conceded under cross-examination that she “cannot dispute” the possibility that someone can “dictate” a letter for someone else to handwrite.

Jackson, 22, is accused of shooting and killing 22-year-old Irvin “Swirv” Jackson in broad daylight on Monday, April 9, 2012, which was the day after Easter Sunday. Zaire Jackson, who was not related to the victim, was 17 years old when the victim was gunned down in an alleyway off North Hermitage Avenue in Trenton.

Jackson’s aunt, Tanika Cromwell, testified under oath at Jackson’s murder trial on Wednesday and said her nephew and Irvin “Swirv” Jackson were “sociable” and well-acquainted with each other.

Zaire Jackson used to live with Cromwell at her former Rowan Towers residence at 620 West State Street in Trenton.

Cromwell said she knew Irvin Jackson and said Irvin Jackson and Zaire Jackson grew up together and often stayed at her house along with her biological children.

Cromwell said she witnessed Zaire Jackson get into a fight with an acquaintance named Kevin Robinson at a city park on Easter Sunday 2012. She said the fight lasted “a couple of seconds” and that she did not see her nephew in possession of a handgun during the physical altercation.

Robinson, Irvin “Swirv” Jackson, and another young man stayed overnight at Cromwell’s house on Easter Sunday 2012 and left during the early morning hours of Monday, April 9, 2012, she testified.

Meanwhile, Zaire “Cory” Jackson on that Easter Sunday night was staying at a house on Murray Street that was shot up.

If there was any beef, gripe or feud between Zaire Jackson and Irvin Jackson, Cromwell said she had no knowledge of any animosity between the two acquaintances.

Shortly after the victim was shot and killed execution style, the word on the street was that Zaire Jackson murdered Irvin Jackson. Cromwell said she had heard the talk of the streets but testified that she does not believe everything she hears on the streets.

With the Jackson murder trial winding down and Thursday expected to unleash inclement weather, the trial is expected to resume either on Friday or next Tuesday at Superior Court Judge Andrew Smithson’s courtroom.