The state is suddenly prosecuting a new co-defendant in connection with the 2014 murder of 20-year-old Enrico Smalley Jr.

Alvie Vereen (left) and Shaheed Brown

South Woods State Prison inmate Alvie Vereen, 27, has been charged with accomplice liability murder and weapons offenses under a superseding indictment that also charged co-defendant Shaheed Brown as an accomplice in the four-year-old Trenton homicide case.

Prosecutors since summer 2014 have accused Brown of being the triggerman and sole party responsible for Smalley’s violent death, and Brown has subsequently weathered three murder trials that each ended with a hung jury.

Brown, 34, of Trenton, used a third-party shooter defense that implicated Vereen in the murder, but the state seemingly rejected that argument until this month, when the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office presented its case to a grand jury that resulted in the explosive superseding indictment charging both men with first-degree accomplice liability murder. 

“It is a horrific abuse of the justice system, and it is a waste of the taxpayers’ dollars,” Edward Harrington Heyburn, Brown’s defense attorney, said Tuesday in an interview about the superseding indictment. “There is no evidence Mr. Brown aided Alvie in any way.”

The new indictment accuses Brown and Vereen of shooting and killing Smalley on July 12, 2014. Each co-defendant operated “by his own conduct or as an accomplice of another,” according to the allegations in the charging documents.

Enrico Smalley Jr.

Following the 1:20 a.m. shooting, Trenton Police were dispatched to the corner of Poplar Street and North Clinton Avenue and found Smalley lying on the sidewalk in front of La Guira Bar suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, including one to the head. Smalley was rushed to Capital Health Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Brown and Vereen were friends, and surveillance footage captures both co-defendants at the murder scene when Smalley got gunned down. About a month after the homicide, authorities found Brown and Vereen hanging out in Newark. Brown was arrested on murder charges, but Vereen back then was not charged in the case. The Trentonian previously reported that Brown and Vereen were persons of interest in a 2014 Newark carjacking case.

As the murder case played out, Brown sat in the Mercer County Correction Center on $1 million cash bail from Aug. 18, 2014, till this week, when a Superior Court judge ordered Brown to be released on electronic monitoring, prosecutors confirmed.

Meanwhile, Vereen is incarcerated in state prison for being in unlawful possession of a handgun in Newark on Aug. 17, 2014, and for committing an assault by auto in Trenton on June 11, 2016, according to public records. He pleaded guilty in both of those cases and is scheduled to be released from state prison on Sept. 15, 2020.

If convicted of first-degree accomplice liability murder, Brown and Vereen would face 30 years to life in prison.

Brown, who has prior convictions for aggravated assault and aggravated arson, continues to maintain his presumption of innocence in the murder case. Three trial juries over the last three years each could not reach a unanimous consensus on whether Brown was guilty or not guilty of murder and weapons offenses.

Brown’s defense attorney filed a motion last month seeking to get the original indictment dismissed, but the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office outmaneuvered him by pursuing the superseding indictment that keeps the case against Brown alive and well while finally targeting Vereen for his alleged role in the slaying of Smalley.

Heyburn said his client was released Monday evening from the Mercer County Correction Center. Brown has an electronic monitor on his ankle but is free to travel within a 100-mile radius of Trenton without any curfew limitations, according to Heyburn, who said his client is expected to appear at any future mandatory court proceedings.

Free on pretrial release after being jailed for 52 months, Brown is staying with his ex-girlfriend and his child in Trenton, according to Heyburn, who said Trenton Police confronted Brown during his Monday evening homecoming.

A friend drove Brown from jail to his new digs in Trenton. When Brown finally returned home Monday evening, “They were waiting there, stopped him, told him to get out of the car,” Heyburn said of the police. “They searched him, searched his bag. They knew exactly who he was. It is continued harassment that goes from the prosecutor’s office to the Trenton Police Department.”

Heyburn said he intends to file a complaint with the Trenton Police Internal Affairs Unit over the alleged harassment.

State prisoner Anthony L. Concepcion is serving additional time in the slammer for admitting he killed 39-year-old Patrick Walker in 2014.

Anthony Concepcion

Concepcion, 26, of Trenton, pleaded guilty to first-degree aggravated manslaughter in October and received a 12-year prison sentence last week. He was already serving a five-year prison sentence at South Woods State Prison for pleading guilty in another case to unlawful possession of a handgun, court records show.

Armed and dangerous, Concepcion was arrested Sept. 30, 2014, for packing heat in the City of Trenton without a permit to carry. He eventually posted $50,000 cash bail on Oct. 22, 2014, buying his way out of jail and using his freedom to slay Walker outside of Trenton’s La Guira Bar on Dec. 13, 2014. 

Weeks after the homicide, police re-arrested Concepcion in January 2015 and charged him with murder and weapons offenses on allegations he shot and killed Walker.

Patrick Walker

Concepcion became a New Jersey Department of Corrections inmate in May 2017 after pleading guilty in his initial weapons case. He later pleaded guilty in the homicide case after fighting the charges for years and failing to win an acquittal.

Concepcion’s murder trial ended without resolution in August due to a jury snafu. Members of the jury had conducted deliberations without all jury members being present, a clear violation of the judge’s instructions. The debacle tainted the judicial process and forced a mistrial.

The state was prepared to retry Concepcion on murder charges, but he averted a retrial by pleading guilty to aggravated manslaughter, ending his presumption of innocence. Concepcion would have faced 30 years to life in prison if a jury had convicted him of murder.

The indictment originally charged Concepcion with first-degree murder, second-degree possession of a firearm for unlawful purposes, and second-degree unlawful possession of a handgun. He pleaded guilty Oct. 15 to first-degree aggravated manslaughter and had his weapons offenses dismissed at his sentencing hearing last Friday.

Mercer County Superior Court Judge Darlene Pereksta sentenced Concepcion to 12 years of incarceration. He must serve 85 percent of the sentence behind bars before he may become eligible for parole but has been awarded 1,431 days of jail credit, records show.

The self-confessed killer will be subjected to five years of parole supervision upon release from state prison and has been ordered to pay over $6,000 in restitution.

Police investigate the scene of a fatal shooting on the 300 block of Spring Street in Trenton.
Penny Ray - The Trentonian

The capital city concluded 2018 with 21 homicides, which includes the death of 52-year-old Michael Anderson, who was shot on a Wayne Avenue porch during the early morning hours of June 7, 2017.

Mercer County prosecutors confirmed Anderson’s January 15th death will be counted as a 2018 statistic, even though he suffered the gunshot injuries seven months prior to dying.

Last year’s homicide toll also includes three vehicular deaths, as well as the death of an abandoned newborn and the death of Tahaij Wells, who was shot and killed by police during a shootout at an all-night arts festival this past summer.

According to the state police uniform crime reporting unit, vehicular homicides are considered manslaughter and are not reported as a homicide statistic. Justifiable homicides are not counted in state police murder statistics either.

Therefore, state police will likely report Trenton’s official 2018 homicide number as 15 or 16, possibly excluding a fatal beating at the psychiatric hospital, and certainly excluding the newborn whose cause of death was ruled the result of “neonatal abandonment following unattended birth” with a contributing cause of death listed as “maternal use of heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine.”

The Trentonian, however, includes vehicular homicides, manslaughter cases and justifiable police-involved killings in its yearly homicide count.

Using census data and the 15 killings state police will report to the FBI, Trenton’s 2018 murder rate is 17.65 homicides per 100,000 residents.

In terms of fatalities, January was the deadliest month of 2018, perhaps foreshadowing the violence that lied ahead. Five homicide victims died that month, which concluded with the double murder of Ivan Rodriguez and Jerard Perdomo Santana. Three people were killed in each of the months of May, June and November.

Nineteen of the 21 homicide victims were male.

The South was the only Ward that experienced less than five killings: two people died in that ward last year.

Seven victims were in their 20s at the time of their death, and five victims were in their 30s when they died. Four teenagers were murdered in 2018 as well.

The oldest victim was 56-year-old Anthony Anderson, a convicted child molester whose body was found stabbed to death underneath a large tree trunk in a garbage-filled stretch behind an abandoned row home in the first block of Taylor Street.

Fifteen victims were black, six were Hispanic.

Shootings killed 15 people in the capital city, more than any other homicide method. One victim was beaten to death by a fellow Ann Klein Forensic Center patient.

Nine suspects were arrested in connection with six different homicide incidents that occurred in 2018; one of those cases has four suspects charged with various offenses. Only two of the homicide suspects arrested last year are female.

Kimberly Whitaker and Bobby Hood

Shaquille McNeil wanted “Chuck E Cheese” dead.

Chuck E Cheese wasn’t the mascot of the popular family fun center but a “rat” co-defendant he believed was going to testify against him in the double slaying of a Philadelphia rapper and his friend, according to newly obtained court documents.

Detectives outlined the alleged setup in criminal complaints for two of McNeil’s associates charged in the wild witness extermination plot.

Kimberly Whitaker, 23, McNeil’s girlfriend, and Bobby Hood, 26, both of Trenton, were charged last week with conspiracy to commit murder and witness tampering.

They’re accused of assisting McNeil, who is jailed at the Mercer County correction center awaiting trial, with his plan to take out co-defendant Tashawn Santiago.

McNeil thought Santiago was cooperating with cops and prosecutors in the double slaying of Jerard Perdomo and his 19-year-old friend, Ivan Rodriguez.

Whitaker’s and Hood’s arrests brought the number of people charged for having roles in the double slaying or attempting to snuff out potential witnesses to eight.

Authorities acknowledged Wednesday two more alleged accomplices, Yahonatan Salter and Timothy Lewis, have been charged in connection with the witness hit plot.

Others include Cecil Blake, 31, Lakeisha Hill, 29, Felicita Gee, 43, and Fantasia Gee, 24.

Blake is a convicted killer who survived being shot several times in April.

Top l to r: Lakeisha Hill, Shaquille McNeil, Tashawn Santiago
bottom l to r: Cecil Blake, Felicita Gee, Fantasia Gee
Photos provided by Mercer County Prosecutors Office

Perdomo-Santana, an aspiring rapper who had released his debut mixtape under the stage name Elmii Problema, and Rodriguez were gunned down inside a black Ford Taurus on Jan. 22, near Washington Street and Ashmore Avenue in the Chambersburg section of the city.

The two were allegedly waiting to hawk a pill to a Trenton resident, according to court documents.

The authorities believe McNeil, Blake and Santiago were in a black Chevy Impala that pulled up next to Perdomo-Santana and Rodriguez prior to the shooting.

The three suspects got out and at least one of them got into the back seat of the victims’ car and shot them dead before the Impala sped off while the suspects ditched a pair of handguns out the window.

McNeil was apparently upset Santiago is free while he was detained at the county jail awaiting trial.

Trenton Police Detective Scott Peterson wrote in probable cause affidavits that he subpoenaed McNeil’s phone records once he learned McNeil was contacting associates to map out Santiago’s murder.

The criminal complaints mentioned Salter and Lewis, who were identified as McNeil associates allegedly involved in the murder plot.

A county prosecutors spokesman said Salter and Lewis were arrested Oct. 12.

Salter was locked up by the Mercer County Sheriff's Office on an unrelated warrant when he was served with the latest charges.

Lewis, Salter and McNeil each faces conspiracy and witness tampering charges.

Timothy Lewis

Peterson said it became “clear” after listening to McNeil’s taped jailhouse phone calls with Whitaker, between Sept. 20 and Oct. 5, that he was attempting to set up a hit.

The detective conceded McNeil never used the words “kill” or “murder” during the conversations.

Instead, McNeil communicated in code and used street names and slang to talk to Whitaker and others, authorities said, referring to Santiago as “Chucky-Cheese” [sic], the detective wrote, indicating those who help law enforcement are called “rats.”

From there, Peterson deduced: “Hence the Chucky-Cheese expression.”

McNeil tried to slip his girlfriend, Whitaker, a coded message that was Santiago’s address, Peterson wrote.

McNeil explained to Whitaker the first number of the address was the first number of her phone pin code, followed by a four and a seven.

Detectives determined 147 was a coded message that matched up with the digits of Santiago’s address, according to the complaints.

On another call, Whitaker allegedly three-wayed with McNeil and Salter, also known as “Pound.”

During the Oct. 3 conversation, McNeill allegedly asked Salter for help taking out Santiago.

Salter told McNeil he was “going to get that done for you,” the detective wrote.

The same day, McNeil and Whitaker also talked to Hood, AKA “B-Hood,” the authorities said.

McNeil told Hood to “park up” near Santiago’s home and scope it out.

In yet another call the same day, McNeil instructed Lewis that Whitaker would get him Santiago’s address so Lewis could track Santiago down and kill him, according to the court documents.

Lewis allegedly told McNeil no one would recognize him because he had gotten a new “sh-t,” referring to his vehicle.

Issiaha Bivens

Cops arrested a Ewing man Wednesday night, charging him in connection with a murder that happened in November.

Issiaha Bivens, 20, was charged with murder, felony murder, robbery, attempted murder, theft, aggravated assault and weapons offenses related to the death of 27-year-old Eric Severino.

When homicide detectives searched Bivens’ Upland Avenue home they found 18 bricks of heroin in his bedroom, as well as several cell phones. As a result, Bivens has been additionally charged with possession of narcotics.

Severino, of Philadelphia, was shot to death while sitting in the driver’s seat of a white Dodge Journey that was parked in the 100 block of Walnut Avenue around 10:30 p.m. on November 18. He was rushed to the hospital with a gunshot wound to his torso and later pronounced dead.

Investigators believe Severino’s death was the result of a robbery gone awry.

Bivens is being held at the Mercer County Correction Center pending a detention hearing.

Justice has been served.

Two self-confessed killers — Jose C. Garcia and Wade Williams — are now serving time in the big house.

Jose C. Garcia (left) and Wade Williams

Garcia, 20, of Hamilton, has been sentenced to 17 years of incarceration for stabbing 48-year-old Brenda Garzio to death. He stabbed the victim multiple times on the on the 900 block of South Broad Street in the capital city about 11:10 p.m. May 28, 2017.

Williams, 43, of Trenton, has been sentenced to 12 years of incarceration for shooting and killing 51-year-old Tyrone “Big Face” King Sr. in broad daylight Sept. 17, 2017. The slaying occurred on the 900 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in North Trenton. 

Tyrone King

Police arrested Garcia June 1, 2017, charging him with murder. He pleaded guilty to first-degree aggravated manslaughter last October and had his weapons offenses dismissed at the Jan. 9 sentencing hearing. He is currently incarcerated at the Garden State Youth Correctional Facility and is scheduled to be released Nov. 11, 2031, according to the New Jersey Department of Corrections.

Brenda Garzio

Police arrested Williams Dec. 5, 2017, charging him with murder. He pleaded guilty last October to first-degree aggravated manslaughter and had his weapons offenses dismissed at his Jan. 4 sentencing hearing. The 6-foot-2-inch, 400-pound man is currently incarcerated at South Woods State Prison and is scheduled to be released Feb. 15, 2028, according to the DOC.

Williams was previously arrested in August 2013 for distributing drugs in Trenton. He pleaded guilty in that case and was sentenced to four years of incarceration to be served concurrent to his 12-year prison sentence, DOC records show.

Garcia and Williams will both be subjected to five years of parole supervision upon release from state prison, according to court records.

Issiaha Bivens

Court documents related to the death of a Philadelphia man allege he and a partner were robbed during a heroin deal in the capital city.

Arrest documents also say cops recovered evidence that directly links Ewing resident Issiaha Bivens to the fatal robbery, which happened in the Wilbur Section of the city on the night of November 18.

Bivens is charged with felony murder, robbery, attempted murder and other offenses related to the slaying of 27-year-old Eric Severino, who died about an hour after cops found him suffering from gunshot wounds in a white Dodge Journey near the intersection of Walnut Avenue and Monmouth Street.

Arrest documents say Severino was with a colleague that night when they attempted to sell 10 bricks of heroin to a man they met in the capital city several weeks prior to the fatal shooting.

That surviving witness told police he and Severino purposely traveled to Trenton to sell heroin and met a man who showed interest in buying their product. The sellers exchanged phone numbers with the buyer, court documents say, and a meeting was scheduled for the night of the killing.

The witness told detectives they drove the Dodge SUV from Philadelphia to Trenton and met the buyer in the Wilbur Section around 10:30 p.m.

The buyer climbed into the vehicle with a book bag, court documents say, but the parties disagreed over the price of the heroin, which was valued at approximately $1,000.

Court documents say video surveillance captured the buyer exit the vehicle, then later reenter the SUV after the sellers drove a short distance away and parked.

The witness told police the buyer pulled out a gun and shot Severino when he entered the vehicle the second time. As the witness fled on foot, documents say, he heard several shots being fired in his direction.

Shortly after the murder, documents say, police tracked the buyer’s cell phone to the 200 block of Upland Avenue in Ewing, where Bivens resides.

Documents say police later found the clothes the shooter wore and a large amount of heroin in Bivens’ home. Fingerprints taken from the front passenger side door of the victim’s SUV also matched Bivens’, according to court documents.

Bivens, 20, remains held in jail pending a detention hearing that’s scheduled for Friday morning.

Stephan Green (left) and Jibri Chisolm

A convicted felon was arrested Sunday in connection with the death of 26-year-old Jibri Chisolm.

Stephan P. Green, 30, is charged with murder, attempted murder and related weapons offenses in connection with a September 14 shooting that injured a second victim and left Chisolm dead.

Police found Chisolm and another 26-year-old man suffering from gunshot wounds on Bond Street a little before midnight. Chisolm suffered gunshot wounds to the head and abdomen; he later died at the hospital. The second victim suffered a non-life-threatening bullet graze to his right hip.

As a result of the investigation, prosecutors say, warrants were issued for Green's arrest. He was apprehended Sunday morning at a hotel in South Brunswick by the U.S. Marshals NY/NJ Regional Fugitive Task Force.

Green was previously sentenced to three years of hard time after a third-degree conviction for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to online court records.

Judge Robert Billmeier sent Green to the slammer in February 2012 after he was hit with aggravated assault and gun charges in 2009, court records show.

The circumstances behind those charges weren’t immediately clear from the court records.

Green was indicted in December the same year, according to court records, and hit with a superseding indictment in April 2011 in which prosecutors leveled additional charges of terroristic threats and aggravated assault.

Green admitted to a third-degree aggravated assault charge as part of a plea deal with prosecutors, records show.

Green is being held at the Mercer County Correction Center pending a detention hearing.

Prosecutors have not disclosed a motive for Chisolm's killing.

Trentonian staff writers Penny Ray and Isaac Avilucea contributed to this report.

Stephan Green (left) and Jibri Chisolm

Court documents related to the death of 26-year-old Jibri Chisolm say he was killed because he owed his plug $600 for marijuana.

Stephan Green, also known as “Chop,” is accused of murdering Chisolm on the night of September 14 after setting up a meeting in which Green was supposed to supply additional pot to Chisolm’s associate, who was also shot that evening.

Approximately one week prior to the murder, documents say, the trio met on Bond Street, where Green gave Chisolm $600 worth of marijuana to sell. The plan was for Chisolm to collect double that amount of money in profit to pay back Green at an unspecified date.

Documents say Chisolm spent all of the money he made from selling the merchandise and had not paid back his supplier by the time Chisolm’s associate decided to also obtain pot from Green to sell for profit.

Chisolm gave his associate Green’s contact information, according to the affidavit of probable cause, and the pair made arrangements to meet on the night Chisolm was killed.

Court documents do not say whether Green initially knew Chisolm would attend the meeting that night. But Chisolm, his associate and Green met near J & J Liquor and Bar on Middle Rose Street around 11 p.m.

Chisolm’s associate, who survived the shooting, told police he noticed that Green was wearing “thick gloves” when they met, but at the time “did not think anything suspicious” about it.

Chisolm's associate drove the two of them to the meetup spot, where Green hopped in the rear of the car, documents say. The trio then drove around the corner and parked on Bond Street. Arrest documents say they sat in the car talking for several minutes before Green exited the car and walked toward Brunswick Avenue to retrieve the marijuana he was supposed to sell to Chisolm’s friend.

Several minutes later, Green returned to the vehicle and asked his customer if he wanted the merchandise to be placed in the trunk. Chisolm’s associate then popped open the trunk and he and Chisolm stepped out of the car.

And that’s when Green allegedly opened fire, shooting Chisolm in the stomach, causing him to collapse in the street.

The surviving victim told cops he ducked and ran toward Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard as Green continued shooting in his direction. While running, he fell, causing injuries to his knees and hands, according to court documents.

After initially providing a false story, the surviving victim told cops he believes the shooting occurred as a result of the outstanding debt Chisolm owed for the marijuana Green fronted him.

When cops arrived on scene that night, they found Chisolm lying face down in the middle of Bond Street, next to a parked Lexus his associate abandoned during the shooting. He suffered a gunshot wound to the head and abdomen.

Chisolm’s associate suffered what appeared to be a bullet graze wound to his right hip.

Police found five .45 caliber shell casings at the scene, along with three cell phones, one of which they used to prove Green had been in contact with Chisolm’s associate within the hours leading up to the homicide.

Green, who is a convicted felon, was arrested at a hotel in South Brunswick Sunday and charged with murder, attempted murder and related weapons offenses.

Alleged killer Shaheed Brown remains in legal limbo following another mistrial.

Shaheed Brown listens to testimony from New Jersey State Police Detective Joseph Itri. (FILE PHOTO)

Brown’s third murder trial ended Thursday with a hung jury, prompting his defense attorney to file a motion seeking to get the indictment dismissed.

Brown, 34, of Trenton, is accused of shooting and killing 20-year-old Enrico Smalley Jr. about 1:20 a.m. July 12, 2014. Trenton Police were dispatched to the corner of Poplar Street and North Clinton Avenue, where they found Smalley lying on the sidewalk in front of La Guira Bar suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, including one to the head. Smalley was rushed to Capital Health Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. 

Authorities filed murder charges against Brown on July 14, 2014, and ultimately arrested him in Newark about a month later. Brown has been unable to post his $1 million cash bail, so he remains incarcerated at the Mercer County Correction Center while his case lingers through the courts.

With another jury being deadlocked and another mistrial being declared in the case against Brown, “The state is evaluating its options,” Casey DeBlasio, spokeswoman for the Mercer County Prosecutors Office, said Friday via email.

In a criminal trial, a jury must unanimously agree on a verdict for a defendant to be acquitted or convicted of a crime. In Brown’s case, three juries over the last three years each could not reach a unanimous consensus on whether he was guilty or not guilty of murder and weapons offenses.

Retired Mercer County Superior Court Judge Andrew Smithson declared the first mistrial on Oct. 29, 2015, and he declared the second mistrial on May 13, 2016. Judge Thomas Brown declared the third mistrial on Thursday.

A grand jury handed up an indictment on Nov. 5, 2014, charging Shaheed Brown with first-degree purposeful murder, second-degree possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose, second-degree unlawful possession of a handgun and second-degree certain persons not to have a weapon due to a prior conviction. Brown previously served time in state prison for committing an aggravated assault in Newark on July 8, 2002, and for committing an aggravated arson in Essex County’s jurisdiction.

Enrico Smalley Jr.

Edward Harrington Heyburn, Brown’s defense attorney, filed a motion on Friday seeking to get that indictment dismissed. If Judge Brown grants the motion, it would exonerate Shaheed Brown of any wrongdoing in connection with the homicide of Smalley. A dismissed indictment would also force the state of New Jersey to drop the case, because it is unconstitutional for a defendant to be subjected to double jeopardy in criminal prosecution.

Under New Jersey case law, a court “should not disturb an indictment if there is some evidence establishing each element of the crime.” Prosecutors say surveillance footage depicts Shaheed Brown and Enrico Smalley Jr. walking together minutes before the fatal shooting, which was not captured on video.

Prosecutors say this surveillance photo shows Shaheed Brown (left) and Enrico Smalley Jr. minutes before Smalley was gunned down outside of La Guira Bar on July 12, 2014.

It is common for defense attorneys to move for dismissal of indictments, but it is rare for judges to grant such motions without the state’s consent.

Heyburn on March 31 filed a civil complaint in U.S. District Court on Brown’s behalf seeking to have New Jersey’s Criminal Justice Reform Act declared unconstitutional and seeking compensatory damages for the CJRA giving what Heyburn calls “preferential treatment” to defendants arrested since Jan. 1, 2017, who often receive speedier trials than defendants arrested before that date.

Kimberly Whitaker and Bobby Hood

Shaquille McNeil wanted “Chuck E Cheese” dead.

Chuck E Cheese wasn’t the mascot of the popular family fun center but a “rat” co-defendant he believed was going to testify against him in the double slaying of a Philadelphia rapper and his friend, according to newly obtained court documents.

Detectives outlined the alleged setup in criminal complaints for two of McNeil’s associates charged in the wild witness extermination plot.

Kimberly Whitaker, 23, McNeil’s girlfriend, and Bobby Hood, 26, both of Trenton, were charged last week with conspiracy to commit murder and witness tampering.

They’re accused of assisting McNeil, who is jailed at the Mercer County correction center awaiting trial, with his plan to take out co-defendant Tashawn Santiago.

McNeil thought Santiago was cooperating with cops and prosecutors in the double slaying of Jerard Perdomo and his 19-year-old friend, Ivan Rodriguez.

Whitaker’s and Hood’s arrests brought the number of people charged for having roles in the double slaying or attempting to snuff out potential witnesses to eight.

Authorities acknowledged Wednesday two more alleged accomplices, Yahonatan Salter and Timothy Lewis, have been charged in connection with the witness hit plot.

Others include Cecil Blake, 31, Lakeisha Hill, 29, Felicita Gee, 43, and Fantasia Gee, 24.

Blake is a convicted killer who survived being shot several times in April.

Top l to r: Lakeisha Hill, Shaquille McNeil, Tashawn Santiago
bottom l to r: Cecil Blake, Felicita Gee, Fantasia Gee
Photos provided by Mercer County Prosecutors Office

Perdomo-Santana, an aspiring rapper who had released his debut mixtape under the stage name Elmii Problema, and Rodriguez were gunned down inside a black Ford Taurus on Jan. 22, near Washington Street and Ashmore Avenue in the Chambersburg section of the city.

The two were allegedly waiting to hawk a pill to a Trenton resident, according to court documents.

The authorities believe McNeil, Blake and Santiago were in a black Chevy Impala that pulled up next to Perdomo-Santana and Rodriguez prior to the shooting.

The three suspects got out and at least one of them got into the back seat of the victims’ car and shot them dead before the Impala sped off while the suspects ditched a pair of handguns out the window.

McNeil was apparently upset Santiago is free while he was detained at the county jail awaiting trial.

Trenton Police Detective Scott Peterson wrote in probable cause affidavits that he subpoenaed McNeil’s phone records once he learned McNeil was contacting associates to map out Santiago’s murder.

The criminal complaints mentioned Salter and Lewis, who were identified as McNeil associates allegedly involved in the murder plot.

A county prosecutors spokesman said Salter and Lewis were arrested Oct. 12.

Salter was locked up by the Mercer County Sheriff's Office on an unrelated warrant when he was served with the latest charges.

Lewis, Salter and McNeil each faces conspiracy and witness tampering charges.

Timothy Lewis

Peterson said it became “clear” after listening to McNeil’s taped jailhouse phone calls with Whitaker, between Sept. 20 and Oct. 5, that he was attempting to set up a hit.

The detective conceded McNeil never used the words “kill” or “murder” during the conversations.

Instead, McNeil communicated in code and used street names and slang to talk to Whitaker and others, authorities said, referring to Santiago as “Chucky-Cheese” [sic], the detective wrote, indicating those who help law enforcement are called “rats.”

From there, Peterson deduced: “Hence the Chucky-Cheese expression.”

McNeil tried to slip his girlfriend, Whitaker, a coded message that was Santiago’s address, Peterson wrote.

McNeil explained to Whitaker the first number of the address was the first number of her phone pin code, followed by a four and a seven.

Detectives determined 147 was a coded message that matched up with the digits of Santiago’s address, according to the complaints.

On another call, Whitaker allegedly three-wayed with McNeil and Salter, also known as “Pound.”

During the Oct. 3 conversation, McNeill allegedly asked Salter for help taking out Santiago.

Salter told McNeil he was “going to get that done for you,” the detective wrote.

The same day, McNeil and Whitaker also talked to Hood, AKA “B-Hood,” the authorities said.

McNeil told Hood to “park up” near Santiago’s home and scope it out.

In yet another call the same day, McNeil instructed Lewis that Whitaker would get him Santiago’s address so Lewis could track Santiago down and kill him, according to the court documents.

Lewis allegedly told McNeil no one would recognize him because he had gotten a new “sh-t,” referring to his vehicle.

Police investigate the scene of a fatal shooting on the 300 block of Spring Street in Trenton.
Penny Ray - The Trentonian

The police response was quick: cops sped through the city, down Perry to Passaic, then over to Spring Street.

But it was too late.

A man was murdered at close range Wednesday afternoon. He was gunned down on a sidewalk outside of a home.

He died where he fell and was pronounced deceased at the scene.

"It's like we live in a Third World country," a man said as he watched police cover the victim with a white sheet. "The guys around here do what they have to do to get by. And nobody cares. Not even those police."

Officials say ShotSpotter technology detected 12 gunshots near 317 Spring Street around 3:40 p.m. Investigators believe the victim was shot at close range. He suffered at least one gunshot wound to the head.

A crossing guard who was working at the intersection of Spring and West Hanover streets said she was startled when she heard shots ring out.

“I was on the corner of Calhoun [Street] and Pennington [Avenue] for 28 years and never had anything like this happen,” she said.

Another man who lived nearby said he had just stepped off the bus when he encountered the familiar flashing blue and red lights of cop cars and a roped-off crime scene. He said he has grown tired of the senseless violence in the capital city and doesn’t understand why people can’t settle their squabbles without gunplay.

“Why is everybody f***ing killing each other in Trenton. It don’t make any sense. We gotta stop this bullsh**. Knuckle up,” the man said as he played a scratch-off lottery ticket from behind the crime scene tape.

Quanmir Spears was shot and killed Wednesday on Spring Street in Trenton. He just turned 28 years old less than two weeks before his death.

A citizen at the scene relayed the victim's identification to this newspaper and it was confirmed by law enforcement sources: 28-year-old Quanmir Spears was shot by a suspect who entered a house on the same block after the killing.

That suspect is now in custody.

Sources say detectives learned the shooter wore a fluorescent yellow hooded-sweatshirt during the murder, and that he ran into a nearby house after the killing. Detectives from the Street Crimes Unit then knocked on the door to that home and the suspect answered, according to law enforcement sources who say the man tried to run away but was quickly tackled.

Mayor Reed Gusciora confirmed that police had a "person of interest" in custody.

Gusciora said the shooting appeared to be a "retaliatory incident,” possibly between rival factions that "seem to be going back and forth."

Police are still working to determine if there is a connection between Wednesday's killing and a shootout Tuesday morning that injured two people in the Wilbur section of the city.

“It’s neighborhoods against neighborhoods," the mayor said of the trend away from traditional gangs like the Bloods and Crips. "They all appear to be young people, from late teens to early 20s. It is just a disturbing trend that is happening in urban areas where kids have lack of direction, lack of hope and they’re prone to neighborhood-type gangs."

The shooting happened near the location of a wild shootout that rocked Trenton in August, which prompted city officials to decry the violence at a news conference the following week. A city teen was injured in that firefight on the 100 block of Passaic Street after someone unloaded up to 31 shots in rapid-succession bursts.

Spears, a convicted felon, was arrested during a gun and drug raid in 2015. He has been a suspect in several capital city shootings and was also interviewed as part of a 2012 murder investigation regarding the killing of 22-year-old Jared Littlejohn. His attorney at the time said Spears was not interested in cooperating with prosecutors.

Court records show Spears' convictions include charges of gun and drug possession, as well as eluding.

Trentonian staff writers Penny Ray and Isaac Avilucea contributed to this report.

A man was shot and killed Wednesday in the 300 block of Spring Street (Penny Ray - Trentonian)

William Johenkins

A city man who was accused of murder in the 1990s, and later admitted to a related robbery charge, was gunned down early Thursday morning, becoming this year's first homicide victim.

William Johenkins, 45, was found inside a silver minivan with a gunshot wound to the face. He was pronounced dead
at the scene.

Police found the van parked in the first block of Hanford Place around 12:40 a.m., after receiving a call about a gunshot victim in the vehicle.

Johenkins, who has multiple aliases, has convictions for robbery, terroristic threats and aggravated assault on law enforcement, according to court records.

He was indicted on murder charges in 1999, but they were dismissed as part of a plea bargain with prosecutors in which Johenkins admitted to robbery, according to court records. He was sentenced to almost 13 years in prison in 2001.

Victor Johenkins, one of William's relatives and a co-defendant in the case, pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter for the Sept. 20, 1998 murder and received an 18-year sentence, according to court records.

No one has been arrested in connection with William Johenkins' death at this time.

Anyone with information about the killing is asked to call the Mercer County Homicide Task Force at 609-989-6406. Or email tips to mchtftips@mercercounty.org.

This is a developing story.

The man accused of fatally stabbing 43-year-old Edward Nock at a city housing complex in 2015 is now facing 30 years to life in prison as a convicted felon.

Edward Kevin Nock (contributed photo)

Isaac Grey, 35, of Trenton, has been found guilty of murder, tampering with a witness, bribery and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose for allegedly killing Nock at the Donnelly Homes on June 30, 2015, according to the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office.

Handing down its swift verdict on Wednesday, the trial jury actually acquitted Grey of unlawful possession of a weapon. The alleged killer, however, still faces decades behind bars on the murder conviction alone, authorities said.

Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Stacey Geurds prosecuted the case against Grey, who allegedly attacked Nock at a Donnelly Homes apartment off Beakes Street.

When police were dispatched to that apartment on the night of the murder, they found Nock lying on the floor suffering from a stab wound to the abdomen. Medics rushed Nock to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The killer fled from the murder scene, but authorities tracked down Grey and arrested him for the crime in Philadelphia two days after the homicide.

In a statement Wednesday, Geurds and Assistant Prosecutor Jennifer Eugene expressed satisfaction with the verdict, saying they are “so very pleased that they could help get the victim’s family justice,” the prosecutor’s office said.

Grey will be sentenced in the near future before Superior Court Judge Robert Billmeier.

Convicted murderer Alberto “Choppy” Lopez has finally been punished for his deadly crimes.

A Superior Court judge on Friday sentenced Lopez to 42 years of incarceration for executing 17-year-old Shamere Melvin during a planned robbery in the streets of Trenton.

“He is greatly missed; he was the glue of my family,” the victim’s mother Natasha Melvin said at Friday’s sentencing hearing. “He didn’t deserve the way he was executed.”

Lopez, 21, of Trenton, pointed a handgun at Melvin and fired a single shot into the victim’s forehead about 8:40 p.m. Dec. 18, 2013. The incident occurred on the 300 block of North Clinton Avenue near Trenton Police headquarters back when Lopez was 16. 

Speaking to the court under oath, Natasha Melvin said she and her family were “destroyed” by the loss of Shamere Melvin. “He made a lot of people happy,” she said. “He was so kind. To know him is to love him.”

To his credit, Lopez delivered brief comments during Friday’s proceeding. “I’m sorry for your loss,” he said in comments directed toward the victim’s family. “I’m not sane. I’m not a sane person.”

One of the most difficult challenges a trial judge can face is sentencing a juvenile who had been convicted of first-degree murder. Lopez was a 16-year-old boy when he brutally shot and killed Melvin at close range over five years ago.

The Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution “forbids a sentencing scheme that mandates life in prison without possibility of parole for juvenile offenders,” according to the June 2012 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Miller v. Alabama. Under federal case law, judges “must have the opportunity to consider mitigating circumstances before imposing the harshest possible penalty for juveniles.”

Because Lopez was a juvenile when he murdered Melvin, Mercer County Superior Court Judge Robert Billmeier had to consider special factors before handing down a punishment.

In trying to assess whether Lopez’s deadly crime reflected “unfortunate yet transient immaturity” or whether Lopez was a “rare juvenile offender whose crime reflects irreparable corruption,” Billmeier reviewed Lopez’s upbringing to make an informed decision.

Lopez used marijuana on a daily basis since age 11 and lacked maturity and lacked understanding of the risks involved in his robbery-turned-murder, Billmeier found. He also found that Lopez’s mom was addicted to drugs and that Lopez had a “somewhat dysfunctional family.”

“He certainly understood how the system worked,” Billmeier said of Lopez, who had six prior juvenile adjudications for various offenses, including aggravated assault on a law-enforcement officer.

Police arrested Lopez on Dec. 19, 2013, one day after the murder. He sat in the Mercer County Correction Center for years on high monetary bail. While incarcerated, he took anger management courses at the county jail and also completed his high school diploma.

“He is maturing, trying to better himself with his education,” Billmeier said of Lopez. “I think he can be rehabilitated in prison.”

Billmeier sentenced Lopez to 42 years of incarceration subject to the No Early Release Act. That means Lopez must serve 85 percent of the term behind bars — over 35 years in the slammer — before he can become eligible for release on parole. This punishment, while stiff, is not as harsh as what the state had recommended and not as lenient as what the defense had requested.

Superior Court Judge Robert Billmeier

Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Grillo asked the court to impose 55 years of incarceration subject to the No Early Release Act, while public defender Jason C. Matey asked Billmeier to sentence his client to 30 years under NERA, which would have required Lopez to serve 25.5 years in prison before becoming eligible for parole.

Billmeier met the prosecution and defense halfway by sentencing Lopez to 42 years of state imprisonment. Under state law, the sentencing range for murder is 30 years to life in prison, with “life” being defined as 75 years.

At the sentencing hearing, Lopez’s mother spoke and admitted she had a drug problem while declaring her son was “not a monster.” The defendant’s father Alberto Lopez Sr. also spoke, saying he was a positive role model to his son and expressing his “deep condolences and apologies” to the victim’s family.

Natasha Melvin is still grieving the sudden loss of her slain son but also feels empathy for Lopez’s family. “We all lost,” she said. “There are no winners in this situation.”

A trial jury convicted Lopez on all counts last summer after two eyewitnesses testified against the defendant, identifying him as the gunman who had shot and killed Melvin in cold blood.

Lopez received 1,870 days of jail credit, which effectively reduces his prison sentence by that amount. He will be subjected to five years of parole supervision upon release from the big house.

A city man already incarcerated for violent crime in Pennsylvania will serve at least three more years in state prison for striking and killing 44-year-old John Covington in a vicious vehicular homicide in Trenton’s West Ward.

Robert McFadden

Robert McFadden, 26, of Trenton, admits he mowed down Covington on the 500 block of Rutherford Avenue near Gregory Elementary School. The reckless death by auto occurred about 7:15 p.m. Jan. 16, 2015.

McFadden slammed into Covington as the victim was crossing the street while pushing a shopping cart, The Trentonian previously reported. Authorities at the time said McFadden was driving while intoxicated but stopped his vehicle and remained at the scene following the deadly crash. 

Authorities in May 2015 filed a complaint warrant charging McFadden with one count of first-degree reckless vehicular homicide on allegations he was intoxicated when he recklessly struck and killed Covington within 1,000 feet of school property.  He posted $150,000 cash bail in the case and used his freedom to commit additional crimes in Pennsylvania, court records show.

McFadden attacked a police officer in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, during summer 2017. In January 2018 he pleaded guilty to multiple offenses in the case, including aggravated assault, possession with intent to deliver heroin, disarming a law enforcement officer without authorization and theft from a motor vehicle, court records show.

McFadden committed those felony offenses in Pennsylvania four months after being indicted in the New Jersey vehicular homicide case. He was sitting in an SUV parked in a no-parking zone when a Bensalem cop ordered him out of the vehicle about 9 a.m. July 29, 2017.

The Trenton man exited the vehicle and tussled with the officer in resistance to arrest. McFadden then threw the officer to the ground, struck him in the head several times, choked the officer and attempted to grab the officer’s service weapon, authorities said.

The injured officer managed to place McFadden under arrest as backup officers arrived. McFadden admits he was stealing items from vehicles in the 1300 block of Neshaminy Avenue before he assaulted the law-enforcement officer that morning. He also admits he stashed heroin inside the SUV with the intent to sell the deadly opioid-based substance.

Judge Jeffrey L. Finley of Pennsylvania sentenced McFadden to a mandatory term of imprisonment ranging from a minimum of three years and a maximum of eight years behind bars. He also ordered McFadden to pay over $5,000 in restitution for the medical expenses of the injured officer, who had suffered cuts on his hands, legs, knees, neck and face and had strangulation marks on his neck from McFadden’s attack, according to the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office.

McFadden is currently incarcerated at Pennsylvania’s medium-security State Correctional Institution at Mahanoy, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. His 2017 violent crimes, property crimes and drug distribution in the Keystone State could have been prevented if he never was allowed to buy his way out of a Garden State jail cell.

Two weeks after McFadden struck and killed John Covington in a Trenton-based vehicular homicide, the victim’s family questioned why authorities allowed the reckless driver to roam free on a summons.

John Covington of Trenton was killed in January 2015 when he was struck by a car. (Contributed photo)

“My brother’s dead, and he’s riding around somewhere,” Milton Covington said in a February 2015 interview with The Trentonian. “The officers came to the home and said my brother was dead. They said he was in the morgue and the individual who is the cause of his death is still in the streets. I don’t know who the heck let him go, but he should not have been released.”

Authorities filed vehicular homicide charges against McFadden in May 2015, but he immediately posted 10 percent of his $150,000 cash bail to secure his release. Instead of keeping his nose clean, McFadden in 2017 committed new criminal activities in the Philadelphia suburbs as a self-confessed drug pusher.

McFadden described himself as a drug addict at his Pennsylvania sentencing hearing last year. New Jersey court records show he underwent a mandatory drug court screen in March 2017, but the troubled city man apparently did not get the help he needed as he slipped into additional legal woes.

Pennsylvania defense attorney Sara Webster presented evidence showing McFadden had suffered brain injuries and a severe personality change several years ago from a fall injury he suffered in North Carolina, according to the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office.

“I wasn’t the same person,” McFadden told the Bucks County sentencing judge last year, adding he became addicted to opioids after being prescribed Percocet for back injuries he suffered in a 2013 fall from a balcony, the Bucks County DA’s Office reported in a February 2018 news release. “I cannot use my intoxication as an excuse for my behavior,” McFadden told the court, but “in the right state of mind, I do not think I would have acted out the way that I did.”

McFadden also expressed remorse for his attack on the Bensalem police officer.

“I have much respect for people who put their lives on the line to serve and protect because I have parents and other family members in law enforcement,” McFadden said in a handwritten letter of apology that he read in court, according to the DA’s office. “I don’t know how I would feel if something were to happen to one of them if they got put in a bad situation.”

“I hope that you can look past this thoughtless act and forgive me,” McFadden said in his apology to the cop he callously attacked. “With your forgiveness I feel as though I can move on in my treatment and continue to advance with my future life.”

The remorseful Pennsylvania inmate pleaded guilty last November to second-degree reckless death by auto in his New Jersey vehicular homicide case.

Mercer County Superior Court Judge Peter Warshaw sentenced McFadden to five years of incarceration on Jan. 11. His New Jersey prison sentence is being served concurrent to his Pennsylvania prison sentence, records show.

With jail credit factored in, McFadden will serve at least three more years behind bars. The New Jersey Department of Corrections lists McFadden’s parole eligibility date as April 26, 2022.

In Pennsylvania, McFadden will become eligible for parole consideration after serving his minimum three years of imprisonment there. Parole is not guaranteed in Pennsylvania, where it is considered a privilege and not a right. If denied early release on parole, the Trenton man will end up serving eight hard years in a Keystone State penitentiary.

Police investigate the scene of a fatal shooting on the 300 block of Spring Street in Trenton.
Penny Ray - The Trentonian

The police response was quick: cops sped through the city, down Perry to Passaic, then over to Spring Street.

But it was too late.

A man was murdered at close range Wednesday afternoon. He was gunned down on a sidewalk outside of a home.

He died where he fell and was pronounced deceased at the scene.

"It's like we live in a Third World country," a man said as he watched police cover the victim with a white sheet. "The guys around here do what they have to do to get by. And nobody cares. Not even those police."

Officials say ShotSpotter technology detected 12 gunshots near 317 Spring Street around 3:40 p.m. Investigators believe the victim was shot at close range. He suffered at least one gunshot wound to the head.

A crossing guard who was working at the intersection of Spring and West Hanover streets said she was startled when she heard shots ring out.

“I was on the corner of Calhoun [Street] and Pennington [Avenue] for 28 years and never had anything like this happen,” she said.

Another man who lived nearby said he had just stepped off the bus when he encountered the familiar flashing blue and red lights of cop cars and a roped-off crime scene. He said he has grown tired of the senseless violence in the capital city and doesn’t understand why people can’t settle their squabbles without gunplay.

“Why is everybody f***ing killing each other in Trenton. It don’t make any sense. We gotta stop this bullsh**. Knuckle up,” the man said as he played a scratch-off lottery ticket from behind the crime scene tape.

Quanmir Spears was shot and killed Wednesday on Spring Street in Trenton. He just turned 28 years old less than two weeks before his death.

A citizen at the scene relayed the victim's identification to this newspaper and it was confirmed by law enforcement sources: 28-year-old Quanmir Spears was shot by a suspect who entered a house on the same block after the killing.

That suspect is now in custody.

Sources say detectives learned the shooter wore a fluorescent yellow hooded-sweatshirt during the murder, and that he ran into a nearby house after the killing. Detectives from the Street Crimes Unit then knocked on the door to that home and the suspect answered, according to law enforcement sources who say the man tried to run away but was quickly tackled.

Mayor Reed Gusciora confirmed that police had a "person of interest" in custody.

Gusciora said the shooting appeared to be a "retaliatory incident,” possibly between rival factions that "seem to be going back and forth."

Police are still working to determine if there is a connection between Wednesday's killing and a shootout Tuesday morning that injured two people in the Wilbur section of the city.

“It’s neighborhoods against neighborhoods," the mayor said of the trend away from traditional gangs like the Bloods and Crips. "They all appear to be young people, from late teens to early 20s. It is just a disturbing trend that is happening in urban areas where kids have lack of direction, lack of hope and they’re prone to neighborhood-type gangs."

The shooting happened near the location of a wild shootout that rocked Trenton in August, which prompted city officials to decry the violence at a news conference the following week. A city teen was injured in that firefight on the 100 block of Passaic Street after someone unloaded up to 31 shots in rapid-succession bursts.

Spears, a convicted felon, was arrested during a gun and drug raid in 2015. He has been a suspect in several capital city shootings and was also interviewed as part of a 2012 murder investigation regarding the killing of 22-year-old Jared Littlejohn. His attorney at the time said Spears was not interested in cooperating with prosecutors.

Court records show Spears' convictions include charges of gun and drug possession, as well as eluding.

Trentonian staff writers Penny Ray and Isaac Avilucea contributed to this report.

A man was shot and killed Wednesday in the 300 block of Spring Street (Penny Ray - Trentonian)

Stanley Miller

The man who stabbed 21-year-old Abraham Jeditoe to death in 2013 has finally been punished for his deadly crime.

Stanley Miller IV, 31, of Trenton, has been sentenced on Friday to 12 years of state imprisonment for fatally stabbing Jeditoe on Chambers Street near Trenton Central High School.

Miller pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter and must serve 85 percent of his sentence behind bars before he can become eligible for parole, according to the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office. 

The homicide occurred on Aug. 4, 2013, and police arrested Miller two days later.

A grand jury originally indicted Miller on murder charges and weapons offenses, but the state dismissed the weapons offenses after he pleaded guilty to an amended count of aggravated manslaughter.

Miller and Jeditoe were acquainted with each other and were involved in a dispute when Miller launched the fatal attack. Jeditoe, a Hamilton resident, was pronounced dead at Capital Health Regional Medical Center shortly thereafter.

At the time of the slaying, Miller sported a pink Mohawk and matching beard.

In this file photo, law enforcement investigate a murder in the Wilbur section of Trenton.

With the winter holiday season upon us, bullets continue to fly in the capital city.

A Philadelphia man was shot and killed Sunday night, becoming the city's second murder victim within a four-day period.

Eric Severino, 27, suffered a gunshot wound to his chest and later died at St. Francis Medical Center.

Emergency dispatch received a call reporting 10 gunshots in the Wilbur section of the city near Walnut Avenue and Monmouth Street around 10:30 p.m.

Cops found Severino in a white SUV suffering from a gunshot wound. Officials say he slipped into cardiac arrest shortly after medics arrived at the scene, and that he died at the hospital a short time later.

Law enforcement sources believe the shooting was the result of a drug deal gone awry.

The capital city has been rife with gunfire in the past week.

A morning gun battle last Tuesday left a trail of shell casings and blood throughout the Wilbur section. Justice Ford was later arrested in connection with the shootout after police obtained video showing him go from being a victim to a suspect when he escaped an ambush and returned fire at his assailant from a safe distance.

The following day, 28-year-old Quanmir Spears was gunned down on Spring Street in a brazen daylight killing.

As of press time, no one has been charged in connection with Severino's death and the investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information about the killing is asked to contact the Mercer County Homicide Task Force at 609-989-6406. Or email tips to mchtftips@mercercounty.org.

Police investigate a murder in Trenton Tuesday afternoon. (Sulaiman Abdur-Rahman - Trentonian)

A reputed gang member who was suspected in several capital city shootings was gunned down Tuesday afternoon in a notorious crime hotspot.

Shaela Johnson was murdered in Trenton Tuesday.

Shaela Johnson, a 19-year-old member of the Crips street gang, was shot and killed around 2:15 p.m. when two gunmen sprayed up the 800 block of Stuyvesant Avenue, according to law enforcement who say she was shot approximately 14 times.

Police sources say video of the shooting shows the gunmen pull up in front of a deli, jump out of a vehicle and fire at Johnson and another person standing with her on the corner. The store was effectively closed for the day following the latest capital city bloodshed.

Sources say Johnson appears to be the target of the shooting, as one gunman stood over her and fired a few rounds while she was on the ground, striking her in the arms, chest and head.

Video shows a second gunman chase a second victim down the street, but it’s unclear whether that person was struck by gunfire, according to police.

Johnson was reportedly taken to the hospital via a pickup truck, rushed into emergency surgery and later pronounced dead. As of press time, no other victims have reported being shot during the incident.

Authorities blocked the intersection of Stuyvesant and Hoffman avenues with police vehicles and crime scene tape following the homicide, impacting students on their way home from school. A school bus driver was forced to make a U-turn in the middle of Stuyvesant Avenue.

Authorities say the 2012 Nissan Maxima used by the gunmen was stolen out of Hamilton on November 19. After the murder, police found the car engulfed in flames near the intersection of East Howell and Franklin streets. Officials say the fire was lit intentionally.

Shaela Johnson

Johnson was one of six people arrested in April last year following the attempted killing of Zaire Jackson, who was acquitted of murder charges in connection with the 2012 death of Irvin “Swirv” Jackson. Johnson and others were charged with weapons offenses after police found them in a nearby apartment with guns shortly after Zaire was shot in the stomach.

After a judge released the group from jail on the weapons offenses, Johnson was arrested seven months later for dealing heroin.

Court records show Johnson was on probation at the time of her death.

Johnson's killing is the second brazen daylight murder to happen in Trenton this month. Quanmir Spears, 28, was shot in the head on Spring Street two weeks ago.

As of press time, no one has been arrested in connection with Johnson’s murder. Anyone with information about the killing is asked to contact the Mercer County Homicide Task Force at 609-989-6406. Or email tips to mchtftips@mercercounty.org.

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

A woman was gunned down in the 800 block of Stuyvesant Avenue Tuesday, November 27, 2018. (Sulaiman Abdur-Rahman - Trentonian)