2018: Trenton’s homicides by the numbers

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

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.” Read more

Lack of Hope: Trenton teens discuss life in the city, researchers share ideas to change the culture

Cops guard the scene of Trenton’s first homicide of 2018.

Cops guard the scene of Trenton’s first homicide of 2018.

Imagine you’re a quiet five-year-old boy who just moved to the capital city from another state and the first time you go out to play in the park, grown men tell a group of kids to jump you.

Now imagine physical abuse at the hands of strangers continued for the next 12 years as you progressed through school.

After more than a decade of being jumped and beaten by peers, what would you do? Read more

5 plead guilty in Trenton Lyft rideshare murder case, 1 gets probation

A November 2016 armed robbery that ended with Lyft rideshare passenger Amber Dudley’s violent death has netted five guilty pleas and lopsided punishments.

(From left) Dominique Richter, Andrew Alston, Kasey DeZolt, Douglas Mathis and Ronderrick Manuel

(From left) Dominique Richter, Andrew Alston, Kasey DeZolt, Douglas Mathis and Ronderrick Manuel

The justice system went easy on co-defendant Dominique Richter, 33, of Hamilton, who received a non-custodial term of probation in the homicide case. She pleaded guilty to third-degree conspiracy to commit theft and is serving five years on probation, authorities said.

An April 2017 indictment originally charged all five co-defendants with murder but each of them confessed their guilt in exchange for leniency. Read more

Gunman gets 12 years in 2014 Trenton homicide case

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

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. Read more

Jury convicts Trenton man in 2014 murder case, co-defendant confesses guilt

Calier Samad (left) and Joeryan Foreman

Calier Samad (left) and Joeryan Foreman

Convicted murderer Calier Samad is facing a long prison sentence in the near future.

Samad, 31, of Trenton, was found guilty Thursday afternoon of felony murder, first-degree robbery, possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose and aggravated arson in the grisly 2014 slaying of 22-year-old Chevin Burgess, according to the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office. Read more

Superseding indictment charges new man in 2014 Trenton murder

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

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. Read more

Woman murdered in Trenton Tuesday, suspects set getaway car on fire

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

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 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. Read more

Leroy Tutt admits killing Trenton teen, gets 7 years

He did it.

Leroy Tutt

Leroy Tutt

Leroy Tutt is serving seven years in state prison for admitting he shot and killed 19-year-old Nabate Kalil Washington in broad daylight last year.

Washington, also known as Nebate Anderson, suffered fatal gunshot wounds about 1:50 p.m. June 30, 2017, near his Sanford Street home in Trenton. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Authorities linked Tutt to the homicide and then arrested him Aug. 5, 2017. Tutt, 32, who has prior convictions for drug distribution, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose, originally pleaded not guilty in the murder case but later confessed to the slaying after his initial trial ended June 6 in a hung jury. Read more

Philly man murdered in Trenton Sunday night

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

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. Read more

Self-confessed killer gets 12 years for Trenton stabbing death

Stanley Miller

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. Read more