Two teens arrested in Lance Beckett murder

Two teens were arrested in connection with the murder of Lance Beckett in the city’s West Ward last Sunday.

Quashawn Emanuel

Quashawn Emanuel

Acting Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo Onofri told The Trentonian that the Homicide Task Force arrested 18-year-old Quashawn Emanuel and a 17-year-old, both of whom are Trenton residents, for the murder on East Stuyvesant Avenue.

The pair was charged with murder, possession of a weapon, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.

Emanuel is currently being held on one-million dollars cash bail. The juvenile is being housed in the Middlesex County Youth Correctional facility.

The victim, Lance Beckett, 19, of Trenton was gunned down on East Stuyvesant Avenue, and according to witnesses at the scene he was stomped after being shot.

So far this year, 21 people have been killed in the capital city, which includes the police-involved shooting death of Alfred Toe and the hit-and-run death of Edwardo Martinez. While the New Jersey State Police Uniform Crime Reporting Unit considers “death by auto” a manslaughter it does not as a homicide statistic.

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

Anyone with information about the incident 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.

Suspected accomplice nears deal in murder of Trenton graffiti artist

A suspected accomplice in the 2013 murder of a Trenton graffiti artist is close to reaching a deal with prosecutors.

Zihqwan Clemens

Zihqwan Clemens

Zihqwan “Woodiey” Clemens, who was charged as an accomplice to the murder of Andre Corbett after he allegedly acted as another man’s wheelman, could reach an agreement with prosecutors as early as this month, officials said Tuesday at a status hearing.

The plea deal is expected to package together the murder case and a probation violation from a drug conviction for which Clemens had received five years at the beginning of the year.Read more

Man shot dead on East Stuyvesant Avenue

A man was shot and killed on East Stuyvesant Avenue. September 18, 2016 (Penny Ray - Trentonian)

A man was shot and killed on East Stuyvesant Avenue. September 18, 2016 (Penny Ray - Trentonian)

A city man was gunned down Sunday afternoon, and according to citizens, there were more than one shooter, one of whom stomped on the victim’s head after he dropped to the ground. Read more

Trenton man accused of murder gets 7 years on gun charge

Drug dealer Daniel McCargo flashed a smile toward the back of the courtroom as he was led out in handcuffs after being sent to prison for 7 years Friday on a gun charge, moments after the grandmother of a murder victim chastised him for playing a role in “destroying” her family’s life.

Daniel McCargo

Daniel McCargo

McCargo, 30, was one of two men charged with the murder of 24-year-old Jahmir Hall, who was gunned down in Trenton in April 2014.

McCargo admitted being armed with a handgun the night Hall was shot to death, but ballistics revealed it wasn’t the handgun used in the murder.

Co-defendant and admitted triggerman Curtis Grier, who is free on $300,000 bail, pleaded guilty in June to a lesser charge of reckless manslaughter, prosecutor spokeswoman Casey DeBlasio said.

Prosecutors will ask a judge to send Grier to prison for 10 years when he is sentenced in October.

His attorney, Robin Lord played coy with a reporter, saying she had “no present memory” of the charge her client pleaded to. She declined further comment.

Read more

Pedestrian hit in Trenton last month dies in hospital

Police investigate a homicide that occurred near Market Street and the Route 1 overpass, Oct. 29, 2014. (Penny Ray - Trentonian)

File photo - Police investigate a homicide that occurred near Market Street and the Route 1 overpass. (Penny Ray - Trentonian)

A city man who was struck by a vehicle last month and left in the street to die has passed away.

Edwardo Martinez, 31, died on August 31, after being hit by a vehicle three days prior. Read more

Trenton gang member may have an alibi for a cold-case killing

A Trenton gang member may have an alibi for a cold-case killing authorities thought they solved.

Notorious crime figure Ronald Smith, a reputed member of the Gangster Killer Bloods who was netted years ago in a big drug bust, may have been on an ankle bracelet that will show he was nowhere near 27-year-old Kevin Thomas when he was gunned down in September 2006, at a street light on the corner of East State and Chambers streets, his attorney said Monday.

Ronald C. Smith

Ronald C. Smith

Thomas was a passenger in a vehicle when a gunman in a dark-colored SUV pulled alongside him and opened fire, killing him and wounding a passenger.

Witnesses came forward pegging Smith as the gunman, but prosecutors have not disclosed a motive in the murder.

Defense attorney Mark Fury said he has identified Smith’s probation officer from 2006, and he is in the process of tracking down crucial alibi information that may ultimately exonerate his client.Read more

Attorney for accused Trenton man suggest cops misidentified killer

A wailing woman denounced a Trenton man accused of shooting a Philadelphia man to death on Halloween in 2014.

Donte Jones

Donte Jones

The woman, who identified herself as the sister of slain 36-year-old Levonza Thompson, shouted as she walked out of court Monday that she knows accused killer Donte Jones fatally shot her brother.

“That b–- killed my brother, man,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes. “We keep coming her for nothing.”

Police have said Thompson was shot multiple times after he and Jones struggled. Jones was found at a home on the first block of Laurel Place, hiding under a pile of clothes in a third-floor attic, prosecutors said.Read more

Two men shot dead in Trenton gas station parking lot

Two men were murdered in the parking lot of this gas station. Sept. 11, 2016 (Penny Ray - Trentonian)

Two men were murdered in the parking lot of this gas station. Sept. 11, 2016 (Penny Ray - Trentonian)

Patriot Day in the capital city began with a bang. Read more

Trenton man gets 38 years, says nothing to families of slain teens

Alton Jones, the notorious half-brother of the Skillman twins, was bent on settling a score. But he missed his target twice, instead killing two innocent bystanders in a span of three days on the streets of Trenton, prosecutors said.

His actions “literally broke” a mother’s heart – she died a year after her daughter, whom family affectionately dubbed the “snack baby” because of her affinity for sweets, was fatally shot in the stomach behind the Rowan Towers on West State Street in Trenton.

Alton Jones

Alton Jones

Jones was sent to prison Friday for 38 years – 32 which he must serve before he could be paroled – for killing victims Rayshawn Ransom and Tierra Green, both 19, days apart in June 2013.

Jones – who fled to New Haven, Conn., and was arrested after a police standoff – pleaded guilty as part of a plea deal with prosecutors earlier this year to two counts of aggravated manslaughter.

He sat blankly and coldly while listening as the victims’ families gave tear-filled tributes to their loved ones.Read more

Woman shot to death in daytime shooting

Police investigate a homicide in the 200 block of Spring Street on Friday Sept. 9, 2016. (David Foster - The Trentonian)

Police investigate a homicide in the 200 block of Spring Street on Friday Sept. 9, 2016. (David Foster - The Trentonian)

A 20-year-old woman was shot to death inside her city apartment Friday morning on the 200 block of Spring Street.

Officers responded to the house at 11:13 a.m. for a report of a shooting in progress,
Lt. Stephen Varn said. When police arrived, they found the victim in the second floor bedroom suffering from a gunshot wound to the shoulder area, authorities said. Read more