Leroy Tutt | Homicide Watch Trenton

Trenton murder trial ends in hung jury

Sulaiman Abdur-Rahman — Thu, 07 Jun 2018 16:35:30 -0400

Leroy Tutt

Leroy Tutt’s murder trial ended this week without resolution.

A hung jury could not decide whether Tutt was guilty or not guilty of shooting and killing 19-year-old Nabate Kalil Washington, also known as Nebate Anderson, in a broad daylight shooting last summer.

Mercer County Superior Court Judge Robert Billmeier on Wednesday declared a mistrial due to the jury’s inability to reach a unanimous verdict in the case.

The state intends to retry the case, according to a Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office spokeswoman.

Tutt, 31, of Trenton, is accused of murdering Washington in retaliation for a previous incident. Washington shot Tutt in the butt on April 26, 2017, prompting Tutt to take revenge several weeks later, authorities alleged.

Nabate Washington

Washington suffered fatal gunshot wounds about 1:50 p.m. June 30, 2017, on the first block of Sanford Street near his home in Trenton’s North Ward, where police found him lying on the ground between two vehicles. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Tutt got arrested Aug. 5, 2017, and was eventually indicted on one count of first-degree purposeful murder, one count of second-degree possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose, one count of second-degree unlawful possession of a handgun without a permit and one count of second-degree certain persons not to have a weapon due to a prior conviction involving violent crime or drug distribution. Tutt previously served time in state prison for convictions involving heroin distribution, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm for unlawful purposes, according to court records.

Tutt remains jailed without bail on pretrial detention. It could take several months before a murder retrial is held.

To win a conviction, the state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Tutt knowingly possessed a handgun and purposely used it to murder Washington. Tutt is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Public defender Laura Yaede, Tutt’s defense attorney, questioned Trenton Police Detective Luis Vega Jr. in trial cross-examination that may have introduced reasonable doubt into the mind of at least one jury member.

Vega, a member of the Mercer County Homicide Task Force, did not interview certain potential witnesses in the case prior to Tutt’s arrest but did question Deshawn Sherman, who said he was “concerned” he might be charged in connection with Washington’s death, because word on the street suggested that Sherman supplied Tutt with the gun that was used in the murder.

Authorities never charged Sherman in connection with the homicide, and Vega said he had no reason to believe Sherman was involved in the murder plot.

Trenton man accused of revenge killing indicted by grand jury

Penny Ray — Mon, 06 Nov 2017 12:36:29 -0500

Leroy Tutt

A man accused of killing someone who previously shot him in the butt has been indicted on murder and weapons offenses.

A Mercer County grand jury indicted Leroy Tutt last week in connection with the revenge killing of 19-year-old Nebate Kalil Washington, also known as Nebate Anderson.

Washington was gunned down on June 30 across the street from his home in the first block of Sanford Street, where police found him lying on the ground between two vehicles. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police sources say Washington was the person who shot Tutt on the afternoon of April 26 in the 600 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Sources say Tutt ran into a deli as Washington fired at him. The incident shattered the deli’s glass door and left Tutt with a gunshot wound to the butt.

Washington was eventually arrested on May 2, by members of the Violent Crimes Unit who jumped out of their car when they saw him because he matched the description of a suspect accused in connection with two shootings. Detectives found a gun in Washington’s waistband that day, but he was only charged with weapons possession while police awaited the results of ballistics test.

Nebate Washington

Washington was released from jail after that gun arrest, pursuant to New Jersey’s new bail reform law. Police say ballistics tests later revealed the gun he had that Tuesday morning was used to shoot Tutt the week prior and additional warrants were issued for Washington’s arrest.

He was killed before police found him.

Tutt, 31, maintains his innocence, but two cooperating witnesses and cellphone tower data have implicated him in Washington’s murder.

Police reviewed communications data and confirmed that Tutt’s cellular telephone was in the general area of Sanford Street during the killing, according to court documents. But in an August court hearing the public defender representing him argued that the cell tower data “is not a link to the homicide.”

Tutt, who also lives on Sanford Street, is charged with murder and related weapons offenses. He remains held in the Mercer County Correction Center.

Alleged Trenton killer implicated by 2 witnesses, cellphone data

Sulaiman Abdur-Rahman — Wed, 23 Aug 2017 20:02:27 -0400

Alleged gunman Leroy Tutt maintains his innocence, but two cooperating witnesses and cellphone tower data have implicated him in the June 30 murder of 19-year-old Nebate Anderson.

Leroy Tutt

Tutt, 30, of Trenton, has been jailed without bail since getting arrested Aug. 5. He is accused of shooting and killing Anderson in Trenton’s North Ward in broad daylight.

“Mr. Tutt has potential alibi witnesses,” public defender Nicole Carlo said at a recent court proceeding, adding her client “adamantly maintains his innocence.”

An alibi witness is a person who can testify that a defendant was somewhere other than the crime scene when it occurred. Police reviewed cellphone communications data and “confirmed that Leroy Tutt’s cellular telephone was in the general area of Sanford Street during the incident,” according to court documents, but Carlo said the cell tower data “is not a link to the homicide.”

Trenton Police were dispatched to Sanford Street about 1:48 p.m. June 30 on a report of shots fired and located Anderson lying in the street between two vehicles. While on scene, police detectives received phone calls from “concerned citizens who wished to remain anonymous” alleging that Tutt killed Anderson in retaliation for a shooting that occurred earlier in the year, according to the affidavit of probable cause.

Tutt was the victim of a shooting on April 26; he survived a gunshot wound to the butt. Weeks after the shooting, police eventually filed warrants for Anderson’s arrest on June 28 upon determining Anderson was the gunman who shot Tutt on the 600 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Anderson was wanted as the suspected triggerman but got murdered before police could arrest him on the warrant, court documents show.

Nebate Anderson

Officers recovered nine .40 caliber spent shell casings at the scene. Two cooperating witnesses provided police with statements linking Tutt to the grisly slaying, and officers on Aug. 4 obtained a complaint warrant charging Tutt with murder and weapons offenses, according to documents in the court case. Trenton Police Detective Luis Vega Jr., a member of the Mercer County Homicide Task Force, arrested Tutt the following day subsequent to a motor vehicle stop. Carlo said no weapon was recovered.

Tutt may possibly never learn the identity of the two cooperating witnesses who pointed the finger at him, because Superior Court Judge Thomas Brown granted a protective order that allows the prosecution to redact, delay, or withhold the disclosure of any materials that would expose witnesses and others to harm.

Police on June 30 received anonymous tips implicating Tutt in the murder, but it was not until July 3 when Vega “learned the identity of a witness who was present at the scene of this murder and is referred to as ‘Cooperating Witness #1’ or ‘CW1,’” Vega said in his affidavit of probable cause statement. “CW1 stated to me that while on Sanford Street CW1 heard several gunshots, which gained CW1’s attention. CW1 then observed Leroy Tutt standing over the victim shooting a gun at the victim.”

Vega said he spoke with a second witness on July 18. He referred to that witness as “Cooperating Witness #2” or “CW2.”

According to the affidavit of probable cause, CW2 told Vega he had heard gunshots and then observed Tutt standing near Anderson’s body and “carrying his right arm in a way that appeared as if he was carrying a gun.”

Carlo last Friday urged Mercer County Superior Court Judge Robert Bingham II to release Tutt from the Mercer County Correction Center on electronically monitored home detention as he awaits trial.

Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor James Scott at the court hearing last Friday argued for pretrial detention, saying that Tutt is “a violent person” who has been incarcerated before on criminal convictions.

Judge Bingham cited Tutt’s criminal history, which includes convictions for selling drugs and perpetrating an aggravated assault, and ordered him to be jailed without bail on pretrial detention.

Judge grants witness protection order as state seeks to keep alleged Trenton killer locked up

Sulaiman Abdur-Rahman — Tue, 15 Aug 2017 15:41:43 -0400

A judge granted a prosecutor’s motion on Tuesday that prevents alleged killer Leroy Tutt from seeing all evidence or knowing what witnesses police have relied upon to obtain probable cause for his Aug. 5 arrest.

Leroy Tutt

Tutt, 30, of Trenton, has been charged with murder and weapons offenses on allegations he shot and killed 19-year-old Nebate Anderson about 3 p.m. June 30 on Sanford Street.

Tutt is an ex-con who recently served time in state prison for unlawful handgun possession and aggravated assault. He may have been motivated by revenge when he allegedly gunned Anderson down.

As previously reported by The Trentonian, Tutt suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to the butt on the afternoon of April 26 in the 600 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Police sources said Anderson was the gunman who had shot Tutt and said Anderson would have eventually been arrested in connection with that shooting if he had not been murdered.

Nebate Anderson

Prosecutors filed a motion Aug. 7 seeking to keep Tutt incarcerated pretrial without bail at the Mercer County Correction Center. However, the detention hearing has been postponed till 9 a.m. Friday because Tutt’s public defender Nicole Carlo has not had enough time to review the state’s discovery evidence against her client.

Sporting an orange Mercer County inmate jumpsuit, Tutt appeared in court Tuesday morning for a motion hearing regarding a protective order that prosecutors filed on Monday. Prosecutors may seek a protective order to limit discovery if they have legitimate concerns for witness safety.

Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor James Scott on Tuesday formally asked Superior Court Judge Thomas Brown to grant the protective order, and the jurist honored the request, disregarding Carlo’s objection to the motion.

In general, a defendant is entitled to be provided with all material discovery evidence in a timely fashion, but the New Jersey Supreme Court in State v. Habeeb Robinson earlier this year upheld the principle of protective orders.

“In appropriate cases,” the high court ruled, “the prosecutor may apply for a protective order to redact, delay, or withhold the disclosure of materials that would expose witnesses and others to harm, hinder or jeopardize ongoing investigations or prosecutions, undermine the secrecy of informants and confidential information which the law recognizes, or compromise some other legitimate interest.”

The protective order against Tutt suggests the state may have compelling evidence and witness statements linking him to the murder of Anderson and that the state has a compelling interest to shield those witnesses from possible retaliation.

Tutt was last released from state prison on June 26, 2016, according to the New Jersey Department of Corrections. He previously served time for selling drugs.

Staff writer Penny Ray contributed to this report.

Notorious shooting victim arrested for Trenton murder

Penny Ray — Sun, 06 Aug 2017 11:16:55 -0400

Leroy Tutt

A man who was notoriously shot in the butt earlier this year has been arrested in connection with a capital city murder.

Leroy Tutt, 30, was arrested Saturday night in connection with the murder of 19-year-old Nebate Anderson. Trenton patrol cops saw Tutt driving a vehicle near the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Evans Avenue and arrested him for murder and related offenses as a result of warrants issued in connection with Anderson's death.

Anderson was gunned down on June 30 in the first block of Sanford Street, where police found him lying on the ground between a car and a minivan. He lived across the street from where he was shot.

Before his death, police issued a warrant for Anderson’s arrest in connection with a prior shooting. Police sources say Anderson was the person who shot Tutt on the afternoon of April 26 in the 600 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Sources say Tutt ran into a deli as Anderson fired at him. The incident left the business with a shattered glass door.

Nebate Anderson

Anderson and Tutt fled the scene before police arrived. But Tutt later walked into the hospital seeking treatment for a gunshot wound to the butt.

Meanwhile, police used a K-9 to track Anderson, who fled to Sweets Avenue. Police say the trail ended at the front porch of a home belonging to a lifelong city resident of 48 years. After knocking and receiving no response, police broke down the front door and realized Anderson was not in the house. Police believe he may have tried to enter the home, then jumped a nearby fence and continued running.

A city cop later paid the homeowner $360 for the portion the city would not reimburse the resident to cover the door repair.

Anderson was eventually arrested on May 2, by members of the Violent Crimes Unit — then under the command of Detective Sgt. Anthony Manzo — who tackled him as he reached for a gun in his waistband.

Since he was only charged with weapons possession after that May arrest, Anderson was quickly released from jail pursuant to New Jersey's new bail reform law. Police say ballistics tests later revealed the gun he had that Tuesday morning was used to shoot Tutt the week prior. Additional warrants were then issued for Anderson's arrest, but he was killed before police found him.

Tutt has a record of violent criminal offenses. After serving time for aggravated assault and weapons offenses, he was released from prison in June of last year.

So far this year, this 8-square-mile capital city has experienced 15 homicides. Twelve of those victims died by gunfire, two were stabbed to death, and one was killed by a hit-and-run driver.

The latest victim, 21-year-old Jerome Thomas, of Franklin Township, was shot and killed while sitting inside his vehicle in the 600 block of Southard Street Friday night. The gunman remains on the run.