A city man is accused of luring another man to his death in a Trenton alley in a heinous city murder potential involving two others, prosecutors said.
Quashawn Emanuel
Quashawn Emanuel, 18, admitted to authorities he knew he was helping set up 19-year-old Lance Beckett to be fatally shot on Sept. 18, Assistant Prosecutor Tim Ward said at a bail hearing Tuesday.
Beckett was also apparently stomped out after being shot in an alley on East Stuyvesant Avenue in Trenton’s West Ward.
A 17-year-old boy, also from Trenton, has also been charged in connection with Beckett’s murder.
His role in the brutal slaying remains unclear as his charges are being heard, at the moment, in juvenile court.
Prosecutors may waive him up as an adult to faces charges of murder, possession of a weapon, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. They normally have 30 days to do so.
Authorities are also seeking a third suspect in the case, who was apparently with the two suspects when Beckett was shot. No arrests have been announced.
Ward did not say at Emanuel’s bail hearing whether authorities believe the unidentified third suspect, who apparently remains on the loose, or the 17-year-old boy pulled the trigger.
Emanuel was charged as an accomplice to the Sept 18. murder, which happened shortly before 3 p.m. near a grassy and wooded area in the city’s West Ward. Police said Beckett was suffering gun shot wounds when they found him sprawled out near East Stuyvesant Avenue, Ward said.
Lance Beckett (Facebook photo)
Three witnesses said they saw three black men run away from the scene. One appeared to be wearing a red and gray shirt, the witness told police.
Detectives combed through surveillance zeroed in on Beckett and the man in the red who allegedly helped shoot him dead.
Authorities tracked down Emanuel at a home in Lumberton Township in Burlington County, Ward said. He agreed to speak with authorities. Back at headquarters, they showed him surveillance stills of the man in the red.
Emanuel identified himself as the man in the red, Ward said. He denied shooting Beckett to death, but admitted to authorities he knew he was sleepwalking the 20-year-old to his death, Ward said.
Emanuel has had “steady contact with the juvenile justice system” over the years, Ward said. He spent time locked up at a juvenile detention center on robbery and weapons convictions, Ward said.
He was popped with drugs in June, right before his 18th birthday, Ward said.
Despite his young age, Emanuel has fathered two children, his attorney said. He maintains his innocence, despite the apparent confession prosecutors lauded at the bail hearing.
A judge kept Emanuel’s bail at $1 million; the 17-year-old boy is being housed in the Middlesex County Youth Correctional facility.