Homicide Watch Trenton

There is no single homicide case that stands above all others as more important or more significant, in this or any other year. But 2013 was the deadliest year on record for the city of Trenton.

The loss of any life, be it man, woman, elder or child, is significant and tragic. Several cases captured the city’s hearts and minds this year, for a variety of reasons. This is a short list of those that were most captivating.

Omar Hightower’s death

According to documents in the case, around 9 p.m. on Nov. 13, 2005, Omar Hightower was walking in the 200 block of Walnut Avenue when Darrell Aubrae Griffin allegedly approached him from behind and shot him. Documents state that Griffin and two other unidentified suspects then stood over Hightower and shot him seven to nine more times. Hightower suffered gunshot wounds to the head, chest, arm and leg. But he survived those injuries and lived another seven and a half years with a bullet lodged in his brain.

Hightower, documents state, was the sole witness in the case. He told detectives that Griffin was a high-ranking Bloods gang member known as “Sonny,” and that Sonny was one of the men who shot him. Griffin was arrested and indicted on attempted murder, aggravated assault and related weapons offenses. But in September 2006, prosecutors dismissed the case without prejudice, citing that Hightower was “not competent to testify.”

On July 5, 2013, Hightower died from a seizure caused by the bullet in his brain. He did not have seizures before the 2005 shooting, prosecutors said at the time of his death. New Jersey State Police determined that Hightower’s death will be counted as a 2013 Trenton homicide. Griffin has not been charged with murder in connection with Hightower’s death.

The death of Carmenlita Steven, Quavon Foster, and the 37-hour standoff

On May 10, police conducted a wellness check at Carmenlita Steven’s Grand Street home and found her live-in boyfriend Gerald Murphy allegedly holding hostage four of Steven’s children. Steven and her 13-year-old son Quavon Foster were dead in the home, police said, and their bodies had been decomposing for about two weeks.

After Trenton Police discovered Foster’s body, a standoff began between Murphy and law enforcement. Thirty-seven hours later New Jersey State Police forced their way into the home and shot and killed Murphy. A state police spokesperson later said that Murphy told officers he had explosives and a gun, and that he would harm the other children. Police stormed the house when they saw Murphy through a window wielding a gun, the spokesperson said. But later police learned that Murphy was armed with a knife and a fake handgun during the hostage standoff.

The murder of local barber Rasheen Jones

According to court documents, a witness told police that around 9 p.m. on July 23, he and Rasheen Jones were returning from a deli in the 200 block of Prospect Street when two males approached them on East Stuyvesant Avenue. One of the men, the witness said, robbed him of $7 and a cell phone, while the other man approached Jones. Then the witness heard a gunshot. According to the witness, the suspects then ran, and one of them yelled, “I just slumped your boy!”

Court documents state that surveillance video from inside the deli recorded an interaction between Zaire Smith, Knovell Desmond, Jones and the witness that occurred moments prior to the shooting. Documents state that Desmond and Smith entered the deli shortly after Jones and the witness, and that Desmond walked past Jones and then shook hands with the witness. Meanwhile, documents state, Smith stood directly in front of the deli entrance as if he was “protecting the exit for Desmond.” After Desmond made a few glances at Jones, documents state, he and Smith left the store without making a purchase.

Surveillance video from outside the store recorded Jones and the witness exiting the deli and walking onto East Stuyvesant Avenue out of the camera’s view. Documents state that two men who wore the same clothing as Smith and Desmond are then recorded running after Jones and the witness down East Stuyvesant.

Two other witnesses spoke with detectives in connection with the case, and both of them identified Smith and Desmond as the men who were in the deli just prior to the shooting. And one of the witnesses said he saw Desmond hand Smith a gun, and that Smith then used it to shoot Jones.

Desmond and Smith were arrested about month after Jones’ death and charged with murder, felony murder, robbery and related weapons offenses.

Jones had simply walked to the store to purchase paper towels when he was gunned down, family members say. Before his death, Jones worked as a barber at Mason’s Barbershop for 10 years.

The murder of Devahje Bing

According to police, around 5 p.m. on May 25, Devahje Bing and his alleged killer had an argument at an apartment complex located in the 100 block of Oakland Street. At some point during the argument, police say, Kareem McNeil handed another suspect a handgun, which was then used to kill Bing. Court documents in the case say two witnesses spoke with police and implicated the killer. And they said that McNeil handed the suspect the gun moments before the shooting.

Two days after Bing’s death, police arrested a 15-year-old suspect and charged him with murder in connection with the case. McNeil was arrested in June and also charged with murder. Court documents state that surveillance cameras recorded the entire event. And police say the 15-year-old suspect was wearing a GPS ankle bracelet at the time of the shooting. The bracelet placed him at the scene of the crime, police say, and then shows the suspect walking back to his home after the murder.

The death of city rap artist Jafar Lewis

Around 9:30 p.m. on Aug. 23, Jafar Lewis, known as Young Farr in the music industry, was gunned down on Middle Rose Street near Brunswick Avenue. A witness to the murder told The Trentonian that she and Lewis were driving to a family gathering when a car stopped alongside them at a stop sign. The witness said Lewis and the other driver both jumped out of their cars and she then heard two gunshots.

The witness identified the shooter as Wayne Bush, who family members say was engaged to marry one of Lewis’ relatives.

A week after the murder, Bush turned himself over to law enforcement.