Devahje Bing | Homicide Watch Trenton

Teen charged with Devahje Bing slaying named in court

Paul Mickle — Thu, 07 Aug 2014 16:55:45 -0400

A teenager charged with shooting and killing Devahje Bing at a West Ward cookout in 2013 was named in public for the first time Thursday as a juvenile who was under house arrest at the time.

Tahj Laws was 15 on May 25 last year when he allegedly left his home on Trenton’s Nassau Street and, as tracked by the security monitor on his ankle, walked to the cookout on nearby Oakland Street.

Devahje Bing

Shortly before 5 p.m., the suspect encountered Bing, 19, with whom he had previously argued. Laws allegedly pulled a handgun and shot Bing in the chest. He was dead in 20 minutes.

In addition to the evidence from the suspect’s GPS device, authorities have Laws on Roger Garden Apartments surveillance video allegedly shooting at the victim, Assistant Mercer County Prosecutor Skylar Weissman said.

The prosecutor said a juvenile judge cleared Laws as an adult on murder charges. He was under house arrest and wearing the monitoring anklet for a previous conviction on drug charges, Weissman said.

Laws was represented by Assistant Mercer Public Defender Jenna Casper, who said the suspect was a high school student and had received permission to attend the cookout that day.

But that wasn’t enough to convince Superior Court Judge Pedro Jimenez to reduce his $1 million bail and Laws was taken back to a juvenile jail after the hearing.

Second suspect under arrest in Devahje Bing case

Brian Dzenis — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 20:17:14 -0400

Police have arrested a second man for the murder of Devahje Bing Wednesday afternoon.

Kareem McNeil, 22, of Trenton was arrested without incident on the 100 block of Oakland Street by the U.S. Marshals New York New Jersey Regional Task Force. He is charged with homicide, unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, Lt. Steven Varn said.

Bing, 19, was involved in an argument on May 25 when he was shot multiple times on the 100 block of Oakland Street. Two days after Bing's murder, a 15-year-old male juvenile was arrested and charged with homicide.

McNeil is being held on $500,000 full bail.

Teen charged in Saturday's homicide

Brian Dzenis — Mon, 27 May 2013 20:38:29 -0400

Police have arrested the alleged shooter in the murder of 19-year-old Devahje Bing on Monday.

The 15-year-old suspect was arrested at his home without incident on the 100 block of Nassau Street around 2:00 p.m., nearly a day and a half after shooting Bing on the 100 block of Oakland Street.

"He answered the door," Sgt. John Breece said.

Sgt. Tony Manzo, Sgt. Dave Cruz, Officer Nelson Cartegena and others assisted with arresting the juvenile suspect. Police did not release the name of the suspect because of his age.

Bing was in an argument with the suspect on Saturday when he shot Bing multiple times. Assisting police with their investigation were the bulletproof cameras set up in the Rogers Garden housing projects and the suspect was wearing a GPS ankle bracelet. According to police sources, the bracelet placed the suspect at the scene and shows him walking back to his home after the homicide.

Bing marks the city's 12th homicide of the year, a total that does not include Gerald Murphy, who was shot and killed by the New Jersey State Police. Bing was one of eight people shot in the three previous days.