Homicide Watch Trenton

Officials from the Delaware State police told The Trentonian Wednesday that the body of a man was discovered in the Delaware River last Friday.

The body has been turned over to the New Castle County medical examiner to be identified, and state police did not release time or exact location of where the body was found.

That body may be connected to Trenton’s 16th homicide victim, but officials have not confirmed whether it relates to the murder of Florence Grayson.

On Oct. 3, Trenton police discovered the body of Grayson, 54, who died from multiple stab wounds in her upper torso in her home at 1326 N. Olden Ave. Police sources told The Trentonian at the time of her murder that the body had been inside the house for two days and that her killer is believed to be a man who jumped off the Delaware Memorial Bridge. The possible connection between the Trenton homicide and the Delaware suicide was discovered when a vehicle found at the bridge was connected to a man who lives in Grayson’s home.

Officials from the Delaware River and Bay Authority said the man jumped off the bridge on Oct. 2 at 1:38 p.m. City police have not released any new information officially connecting the Grayson homicide to the bridge jumper.

Emil Fennell, 23, of Trenton was arrested in June and charged with the murder of Shawn Marrinie, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a weapon. He is held in the Mercer County Correctional Center in lieu of $800,000 bail. There are no scheduled court dates for him.

Fennell told police he shot Marrinie because he had previously robbed him at gunpoint. Marinnie had been identified as a member of the gang “Sex Money Murder” who went by “S-Money.”

TRENTON - The killing of a woman found stabbed to death in her city home may be linked to a man who jumped off the Delaware Memorial Bridge, police said Wednesday.

Police received a 911 call from a resident at 1326 N. Olden Ave. at 12:14 a.m. Wednesday, police said. The caller had found the body of Florence Grayson, who had suffered stab wounds to the upper torso, said Sgt. Mark Kieffer. No weapon was recovered at the scene.
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TRENTON – Aljava Gaither has pleaded guilty to fatally shooting Craig Fitzgerald as Fitzgerald tried to club him to death in a dispute over $10 on April 9, 2011, the Mercer County prosecutor’s office announced Wednesday.

In a plea deal, the 21-year-old Gaither admitted his guilt and agreed to serve up to 12 years in prison on a charge of aggravated manslaughter. He appeared before Mercer Superior Court Judge Mark Fleming on Tuesday morning.

Visit Trentonian.com for more on this story.

Police have told the Trentonian that a woman was found stabbed to death in her home on Olden Avenue early this morning.

Police said they received a 911 call at 12:14 a.m. from another resident of the victim’s home.

The caller, police said, reported that he entered  a second floor bedroom, where he found Florence Grayson, 54, dead from stab wounds to her upper torso.

Trenton Police Sgt. Mark Kieffer said the attack was not believed to be random and that the victim likely knew her attacker.

Grayson is Trenton’s 16th homicide victim.

City police are investigating a homicide on the 1300 block of North Olden Avenue.
Early reports from police say a woman was found stabbed to death there at about midnight.

The family of slain Trenton teen Tre Lane attend a community meeting to address violence in the city on Sept. 24 at Trenton Police headquarters.

TRENTON — Despite the packed to capacity conference room in the basement of the Trenton Police Department, Monday night’s meeting between police director Ralph Rivera, city council members, community leaders and hundreds of Trenton residents still carried a personal feel for Regina Jenkins, the mother of Tre Lane, the 19-year-old aspiring social worker who became Trenton’s 15th homicide Saturday morning.

“My son grew up around the majority of these people, they’ve actually seen him grow up,” Jenkins said.

Jenkins and Lane’s father, William Lane, stood in front of the crowd holding back tears calling for the community to respond.

“Please if you know something or hear something call the police,” Jenkins said. “I don’t want street justice, I want a justice system. I want him to go through that system and see that pain in my eyes,”

“He was my only baby, he was on the right path, he did everything right, everything I asked him to do… and today my heart is broken,” Jenkins added.

There was talk of what the police would do with Rivera calling for support from the New Jersey State police and putting the TPD’s tactical unit on the street. The elected officials talked about political activism but the main theme of the night was the call for the community to start talking, to the police, to their ministers and community leaders, and to each other.

“We can’t just close our eyes because the next day it could be someone in your family,” Rivera said.

See the full story at Trentonian.com.

TRENTON — The victim who was fatally shot in the chest in an early morning homicide on Saturday was identified by police as 19-year-old Trenton resident Tre Lane.

The teen was killed after two suspects opened fire on four people on the front porch of a home on the 1100 block of New Willow Street around 3:15 a.m. Saturday morning.

Three of the victims were wounded to their lower extremities, but Lane was fatally shot. The teen made it around the corner before collapsing in a home on the 100 block of Kirkbride Avenue.

According to city activist Andrew Bobbitt and longtime friend of Lane’s family, Tre was a good kid who was active in the community that was raised by parents who were heavily involved in their son’s life.

Lane, was his mother’s only child, Bobbit said, and graduated from Trenton Central High School in 2011, held a job and was attending Mercer County Community College.

Lane’s father, a retired corrections officer and his mother, a school teacher, both played an active role in raising Tre, making him a well-rounded young man, Bobbitt said.

Tre was recalled as being active in the community and doing good work towards charity, Bobbitt called his death a big loss.

Friends flooded the slain teen’s Facebook page with messages expressing the loss of their friend throughout the weekend.

“No one knows why Tre was out at that time,” said Bobbitt.” But that isn’t the issue here, people should be able to be out at anytime without being victims of violence.”

http://www.trentonian.com/article/20120923/NEWS01/120929694/1006/trenton-homicide-victim-recalled-as-a-good-kid

TRENTON — City police are investigating an early morning shooting that left one man dead and three others injured, police said.
The shooting took place around 3:15 a.m. in the 1100 block of New Willow Street in the city’s North Ward where two men and two women were “hanging out” on a porch when two people walked up and started shooting. Reports said that three victims were taken to Capital Health Regional Medical Center from the 1100 block of New Willow Street . The fourth victim, the deceased man, was transported from the 100 block of Kirkbride Avenue where he collapsed inside a city home. Police have not released the name of the victim — who is now the city’s 15th homicide victim — as the shooting is still under investigation by homicide detectives. He was shot in the chest.

http://www.trentonian.com/article/20120922/NEWS01/120929775/trenton-police-investigating-city-s-15th-homicide

News video on the shooting from Channel 6 ABC in Philadelphia.

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=8820608

Jarrett Palmer, indicted on murder charges in the killing of Robert Howard.

Jarrett Palmer, 20, of Trenton, was indicted on Tuesday on murder charges in connection with the killing of 20-year-old Robert Howard on Dec. 29 of 2011. Prosecutors say Palmer and Howard knew each other and that the killing was the result of an argument over drugs. Palmer was arrested in February of this year.

http://www.trentonian.com/article/20120918/NEWS01/120919544/man-indicted-in-city-killing