Homicide Watch Trenton

TRENTON — Tormu Prall’s lawyer played the race card Wednesday when a jury with only one black person was selected for his arson-murder trial.

Defense lawyer Michael Dawson called for their dismissal after Mercer County Superior Court Judge Andrew Smithson told the six men and eight women — all but one white — he’d swear them in Thursday morning. Opening arguments are expected to begin afterward.
Dawson said the 13 whites and sole black woman chosen did not represent a jury of the peers of Prall, an ex-con from Trenton’s Wayne Avenue charged with killing his brother John in a firebombing the morning of Sept. 25, 2007.
For more on this story, visit Trentonian.com.

TRENTON- A city man was sentenced today for shooting another man to death, over a $10 dispute.
Aljava Gaither pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter in October and, in accordance with his plea agreement, was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Tuesday morning.

Gaither fatally shot and killed Craig Fitzgerald in April over a $10 dispute.
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TRENTON – A third group of 70 prospective jurors is being brought before a Superior Court judge this afternoon to determine how many of them are qualified to face questioning about serving at the trial of suspected brother killer Tormu Prall.

From 69 brought in on Monday, Mercer Superior Court Judge Andrew Smithson gleaned 22 people without reasons to be excused from service.
This morning, 23 of 70 didn’t have excuse enough and made the cut.
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Judge Mark Fleming wanted to make sure Lamar Warren knew exactly what he was doing.
Warren, one of seven men implicated in the murder of 13-year-old Tamrah Leonard in 2009, turned down a deal of 50 years in prison to bring the case to trial.

The other six men — Rasheed Miller, Robert Humphrey, James James, Michael Jennings, Keith Warren and Bernard Baines — have all accepted some form of a plea agreement.
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TRENTON — Final pretrial matters will be attended to tomorrow ahead of the Lamar Warren trial later this month.
Warren is the last man standing in the 2009 slaying case of 13-year-old Tamrah Leonard, all others involved have taken plea deals.

In July of 2012 Warren rejected a plea deal that would have sent him to prison for 50 years for pleading guilty to Leonard’s murder.
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TRENTON (AP) — Bail will remain at $1 million for a Trenton man accused of fatally shooting an off-duty New Jersey corrections officer at a city banquet hall late last year.

Twenty-six-year-old Maurice Skillman faces murder charges in the death of Carl Batie, a 27-year-old Willingboro resident who served in Mercer County.
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Authorities have identified Trenton’s first homicide victim of 2013 as James Threadgill, 54, of Trenton.

Threadgill was allegedly shot in the leg and head after he allegedly cut someone in line at Passion’s nightclub on East State Street on New Years Day.

After cutting the suspect in line, Threadgill pushed him to the ground, that’s when the suspect pulled out a gun while on the ground and shot Threadgill twice before fleeing the scene.

Threadgill was taken to the Capital Health Regional Medical Center and was eventually taken off life support.
Threadgill’s murder was one of five shootings that day and seven since Sunday, leaving one dead and 10 wounded.

“We’re fully investigating each of these shootings,” Lt. Stephen Varn said. “We’re looking to see if there’s a pattern or trend and deploy our resources accordingly.”Read more

TRENTON — Trenton exploded into 2013 with a wave of shootings that have left one dead — the first homicide of the new year — and seven wounded.
Eleven people have been shot in Trenton within the past three days.
The city’s first homicide of 2013 happened roughly an hour after the calendar flipped outside the Passion’s nightclub on East State and Chambers Streets.

According to sources, the victim, whose identity has not been released by police, allegedly cut in front of the suspect in line. The victim then got into a scuffle with the suspect and pushed him to the ground. The suspect, while on the ground, pulled out a .45 handgun and fired two shots, one hitting the victim in the leg and the other in the side of his head, killing him.Read more

Womanspace, a Mercer County non-profit aimed to support victims of domestic violence regardless of age, race or gender, held its 11th annual Communities of Light vigil at City Hall last night. In Trenton, domestic violence is believed to be behind two homicides this year. On Nov. 16, Ruschell Fireall was allegedly killed by William Marshall, a man whom Fireall had taken out a restraining order against and Courtney Levine was allegedly killed by David Noncent after intervening in a altercation between his sister and Noncent, her boyfriend.

“We feel it whenever there is a domestic homicide,” Patricia Hart, the director of Womanspace said. “We wonder what we could have done to help.”

The vigil was held not just for those who have been lost to domestic violence, but for those who may still be struggling with the issue. And not just in Trenton, but across Mercer County and the state.

“The city is not immune to domestic violence,” Councilwoman Marge Caldwell-Wilson said. “It’s not just one person beating up their partner, we’ve found that 30 to 40 percent of kids witness this and it’s teaching them the wrong thing.”

At the vigil, luminaries that were sold with the proceeds going to Womanspace, were lit along the steps of City Hall. Hart encouraged people who purchased luminaries to display them elsewhere for victims to see.

“The luminaries send a light of hope to let them know that their neighbors support them,” Hart said. “If a victim sees them, they can come forward and not be embarrassed about it, they don’t need to be scared.”

Luminaries also were lit by three of Fireall’s friends along the 500 block of East State Street in remembrance of her and all other victims of domestic violence. Fireall’s death motivated Sylvia Sapp, a friend of Fireall’s, to volunteer with Womanspace.

“It’s what pushed me to volunteer, it felt like it was one of my relatives,” Sapp said. “I’ve encountered some of the same situations.”

“We have a tendency that we can’t live without that person, but when you leave, that’s when you really become free,” she added.

Friends referred to Fireall as “Shelly” when speaking of her, describing her as a fun-filled and spiritual individual.

“Her funeral was packed, that outpouring of love for her really spoke to her character,” Dora Jones, a friend who is considering volunteering with Womanspace, said. “This just hit to close to home, like it was right in my living room.”

For confidential information or assistance, victims or their families can contact the Mercer County Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Hotline at (609) 394-9000.

Police sources this morning say a man stabbed late Tuesday has died from his wounds after being brought to the hospital.

The stabbing occurred a short distance from the Battle Monument just before 11:00 p.m. on the first block of Chapel Street.

Trenton Emergency Medical Services personnel rushed the victim to Capital Health Regional Medical Center, where he was initially listed in critical condition.

Trenton police confirmed that the incident was a stabbing, but did not release further information late last night.

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