Tisheen Rasheen Mack | Homicide Watch Trenton

Ewing man indicted in passion killing of Tisheen Mack

Sulaiman Abdur-Rahman — Tue, 19 Dec 2017 18:50:58 -0500

The man accused of shooting and killing 26-year-old Tisheen Mack in a summertime crime of passion has been indicted on manslaughter charges.

Jihad Jenks

Jihad “Jay” Jenks, 23, of Ewing, remains free on electronically monitored home detention as he awaits post-indictment arraignment, according to court records. He is accused of gunning down Mack near the intersection of East State Street and Chambers Street in Trenton July 23.

A grand jury handed up an indictment last Wednesday charging Jenks with second-degree manslaughter committed in the heat of passion resulting from a reasonable provocation, second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and second-degree unlawful possession of a handgun without a permit, court records show.

Law enforcement failed to produce a detailed police report against Jenks in a timely fashion this summer, which prompted the state to withdraw its detention motion in the case. The indictment, however, indicates that a grand jury found sufficient evidence to bring criminal charges against Jenks.

The indictment also suggests that the state’s case against Jenks is strong, considering the grand jury handed up homicide-based charges rather than dismissing them with a no bill.

Jenks maintains his innocence and denies any knowledge of the crime, according to his attorney. An affidavit of probable cause provided no substantive information in the case, but the homicide victim Tisheen “Booda Black” Mack of Trenton may have engaged or attempted to engage his killer in a gunfight.

Tisheen Rasheen Mack (Facebook photo)

Mack had a gun in his possession on the night he was killed, according to police sources, who said medical personnel discovered the weapon upon stabilizing Mack at the scene. He suffered numerous gunshot wounds on the 800 block of East State Street and was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

Police arrested Jenks and charged him with manslaughter in the heat of passion about two weeks after the slaying. The Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office filed a motion Aug. 5 seeking to keep Jenks locked up without bail on pretrial detention, but the state ultimately withdrew its detention motion Aug. 29 after a judge blasted the state’s initial handling of the case.

“This is a 23-year-old man with absolutely no prior record from what I can tell, and you are asking me to detain him today based on an affidavit of probable cause which doesn’t even mention him by name let alone give me any meaningful detail about what happened other than a recitation of the fact that the victim was shot,” Mercer County Superior Court Judge Peter Warshaw said at Jenks’ Aug. 29 detention hearing. “I don’t know where the idea that this is an acceptable showing of probable cause comes in and in terms of the reporting, I don’t even know where to start with that.”

At the detention hearing, Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Michelle Gasparian told Warshaw that neither the Mercer County Homicide Task Force nor the Trenton Police Department had completed an investigative report that would have explained Jenks’ alleged involvement in the slaying of Mack. She said the state, however, had a three-hour recorded statement from an eyewitness who saw the gun violence. She then invited Warshaw to watch the video.

“And because nobody in your office or the Trenton Police Department has written any sort of report, my only choice is to watch all of this stuff? …” Warshaw said, adding it was “absolutely ridiculous” that the state failed to produce a timely police report. Authorities filed manslaughter charges against Jenks Aug. 2 but failed to produce any substantive charging documents before his Aug. 29 detention hearing.

With the state withdrawing its detention motion amid heavy judicial criticism, Warshaw ordered Jenks to be released from the county jail onto electronically monitored house arrest. Jenks remains confined to home detention at his grandfather’s house on the 1600 block of 12th Street in Ewing and must refrain from committing any new criminal offenses as a condition of his pretrial release.

Jenks is represented by private defense attorney John Furlong and is scheduled to appear before Warshaw on Jan. 5, 2018, for a post-indictment arraignment.

To convict Jenks on the manslaughter count, prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he killed Mack in the heat of passion as a direct result of being provoked. Jenks faces five to 10 years in state prison if convicted.

Tisheen Mack’s alleged killer gets released from jail with pretrial ankle monitor

Sulaiman Abdur-Rahman — Tue, 10 Oct 2017 15:01:21 -0400

Jihad Jenks

A suspect has been arrested in connection with the July 23 shooting death of Tisheen Rasheen Mack and then was released from jail on electronically monitored home detention after a judge blasted the state’s handling of the case.

Jihad “Jay” Jenks, 23, of Ewing, has been charged with second-degree provoked manslaughter and weapons offenses on allegations he shot and killed 26-year-old Mack “in the heat of passion” on the 800 block of East State Street.

Mack had a gun on him on the night he was slain, according to police sources. Police charged Jenks on Aug. 2 but failed to justify the charges in an affidavit of probable cause — a mind-boggling omission that prompted Mercer County Superior Court Judge Peter Warshaw to denounce the state’s prosecutorial practices.

“The only place where this defendant’s name appears in this complaint is in the portion of the complaint that lists the name of the defendant. How do I find probable cause based upon an affidavit of probable cause which doesn’t even mention the defendant?” Warshaw said at Jenks’ Aug. 29 detention hearing. “This is completely and totally unacceptable.”

“This is a 23-year-old man with absolutely no prior record from what I can tell, and you are asking me to detain him today based on an affidavit of probable cause which doesn’t even mention him by name let alone give me any meaningful detail about what happened other than a recitation of the fact that the victim was shot,” Warshaw added. “That’s really all I can tell — and a reaffirmation of the ZIP code in Trenton. I don’t know where the idea that this is an acceptable showing of probable cause comes in and in terms of the reporting, I don’t even know where to start with that.”

Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Michelle Gasparian told Warshaw that neither the Mercer County Homicide Task Force nor the Trenton Police Department had completed an investigative report that would have explained Jenks’ alleged involvement in the slaying of Mack. She said the state, however, had a three-hour recorded statement from an eyewitness who saw the gun violence and invited Warshaw to watch the video.

“And because nobody in your office or the Trenton Police Department has written any sort of report, my only choice is to watch all of this stuff? …” Warshaw said. “This is absurd.”

The state initially wanted to keep Jenks locked up without bail at the Mercer County Correction Center. The state filed its motion requesting pretrial detention on Aug. 5, but the detention hearing was delayed several times before finally being held Aug. 29 after Jenks hired private defense attorney John “Jack” Furlong.

“It is absolutely ridiculous that there is not a police report … four weeks after the complaint was signed,” Warshaw said. “I don’t want to hear about they are still working (on it).”

Furlong at the Aug. 29 detention hearing said he hoped the state would have provided him with more discovery evidence.

“It’s now six weeks post shooting, and there are no police reports,” Furlong said. “I was given a series of DVDs, the bulk of which appear to be CCTV (surveillance video) from the street. The state has represented to me that in those DVDs my client is seen entering or leaving a house on the street where the shooting occurred. … Candidly, I looked at those DVDs. I did not find anything revealing on that fact, but I don’t dispute that that is the state’s view of the situation.”

Gasparian said the state was pursuing pretrial detention on the grounds that Jenks would be at high risk of failing to appear in court and that Jenks would present a high-risk threat of danger to the community at large, but she could not overcome the liability of being sent to argue for detention against a defendant who was not linked to the crime scene under the affidavit of probable cause.

After Warshaw heavily criticized the state’s handling of the case, Furlong requested an off-the-record private conference with the judge and assistant prosecutor. The attorneys and judge went behind closed doors in the jury room for about 100 minutes — nearly two hours — and came back in the courtroom with the state announcing a sudden about-face.

“The state is going to be withdrawing its motion for detention and, upon agreement with the defense, is asking that Mr. Jenks be placed on electronic monitoring and home detention,” Gasparian said. “Mr. Jenks has no prior criminal history.”

With the state and defense attorney consenting to electronically monitored home detention, Warshaw signed the order and added additional conditions of release.

Jenks is confined to home detention at his grandfather’s house on the 1600 block of 12th Street in Ewing and must refrain from possessing a firearm, destructive device or other dangerous weapon and must refrain from excessive use of alcohol or any use of narcotics, drugs or other controlled substance without a prescription by a licensed medical practitioner.

Jenks also must not commit any new offenses during his pretrial release and must avoid any and all contact with James Diggs Jr., the eyewitness who saw Tisheen Mack get gunned down.

Tisheen Rasheen Mack (pictured) was shot and killed in Trenton July 23, 2017. (Facebook photo)

The three-hour statement that the eyewitness gave to police does not implicate Jenks in the July 23 homicide, according to Furlong, who said, “My client denies any knowledge of the crime.”

“The whole thing is a mystery to me and candidly I think the whole thing is a mystery to police, but they wanted to make an arrest and they did,” Furlong told The Trentonian on Tuesday. “Jihad was nowhere near the crime scene if there was a crime scene.”

Police sources say the slain Mack had a gun on him, which was found while medical personnel stabilized him at the scene. Mack was later pronounced dead at the hospital. He suffered numerous gunshot wounds.

The affidavit of probable cause had no substantive information in it, but it is possible that Mack may have engaged or attempted to engage his killer in a gunfight.

The circumstances surrounding Mack’s death seem comparable to the circumstances surrounding the 2015 shooting death of 19-year-old Elvin Kimble.

The slain Kimble was reportedly wearing a ski mask and still had a gun in his hand when police found him slumped over near a van on the 700 block of Division Street on Nov. 24, 2015.

Two defendants in the Kimble slaying were originally arrested on heavy murder charges, but Gary Spears, 35, of Trenton, ended up pleading guilty to first-degree aggravated manslaughter and has been sentenced to 10 years of incarceration while co-defendant Jermaine Johnson, 41, of Ewing, pleaded guilty to third-degree hindering prosecution and has been sentenced to five years behind bars.

In the Mack slaying, Jenks has been charged with second-degree manslaughter, possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a handgun without a permit for the Trenton homicide that occurred July 23.

Police charged Jenks under a peculiar statute known as 2C:11-4B (2), which defines provoked manslaughter as being a case where “a homicide which would otherwise be murder … is committed in the heat of passion resulting from a reasonable provocation.”

If Mack was armed with a gun, whoever gunned him down could have been under reasonable provocation.

“I don’t have any additional statements beyond what was said in court,” a Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office spokeswoman said Tuesday when asked why Jenks was charged with second-degree provoked manslaughter rather than first-degree murder and why prosecutors consented to Jenks being placed on electronically monitored home detention after initially pursuing pretrial detention.

Records show Jenks was committed to the Mercer County Correction Center on Aug. 4 and discharged Aug. 30 on his own recognizance with conditions that include electronically monitored home detention.

Trenton mayor talks bail reform and violence after latest homicide

Penny Ray — Mon, 24 Jul 2017 16:03:38 -0400

Tisheen Rasheen Mack (pictured) was murdered in Trenton Sunday night (Facebook photo)

Hours after a man was murdered Sunday night, marking the second capital city homicide in less than a week, the mayor called upon parents to take a more active role in their children’s lives, and for lawmakers to revisit the state’s bail reform legislation.

“It's important to know where your kids are, who they're associating with, and who their friends are,” Mayor Eric Jackson said Monday in a phone conversation, adding that bail reform poses a challenge to public safety. “I believe lawmakers need to take a second and third look at bail reform in cooperation with law enforcement. It's frustrating to have police do the work to lock up criminals, but 24 hours later they're back on the street smiling and waving at them saying, ‘I told you I'd be back.’”

Tisheen Rasheen Mack, 26, was shot and killed around 10 p.m. Sunday. He was found lying on the sidewalk in the 800 block of East State Street suffering from numerous gunshot wounds.

Cops who were patrolling the area heard the gunfire. Witnesses at the scene said they heard eight shots. At least one vehicle in the area was also struck by bullets.

Police sources say Mack also had a gun on him, which was found while medical personnel stabilized him at the scene. Mack was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

Police investigate the capital city's second homicide in less than a week. (Penny Ray - Trentonian)

Mack had a troubled past with a history of arrests. He leaves behind at least one young daughter, according to his Facebook page.

Jackson didn’t personally know Mack, nor did he know 15-year-old Kyler Bragg, who was murdered during a shootout near the intersection of Division and Hewitt streets last week. But as is the case with many Trenton murders, the victims were known to law enforcement for repeated engagement in illegal activity. Officials say many of Trenton’s murders are retaliatory in nature and related to other illicit activity.

“Violence in the city is being committed by a handful of folk repeatedly doing these things,” Jackson said. “I understand the intentions of bail reform, but we've seen people brought in for warrants or low level crimes go through the system, then return to the street in 24 hours and commit a higher level of crime. If we had a system that really evaluated the probability of a person committing another crime, some of this violent activity wouldn't be happening in our city.”

Jackson also said the responsibility to deter crime falls upon all members of the community, not just government officials. He said parents and guardians should take advantage of resources offered by nonprofit organizations and faith-based groups to engage youth in positive alternatives to crime.

“It has to start in the household,” Jackson said. “The city doesn't necessarily have programs that help citizens learn to be an effective parent, but there are organizations in our city that absolutely do that. We're working with the hand we've been dealt, but with the people being arrested being younger and younger, it creates a difficult position for us.”

So far this year, 13 people have been killed in Trenton, which includes the hit-and-run death of 39-year-old Lea Pringle.

“We can't lock away this problem,” Jackson said. “We have to find long-term, sustainable solutions, and it's going to take a collaborative approach from everyone to figure out how to make a real impact in our city.”

The Mercer County Homicide Task Force is investigating Mack’s death and no arrests have been made at this time. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call (609) 989-6406 or the Trenton Crime Stoppers tip line at (609) 278-8477.

Police investigate a murder in the 800 block of East State Street Sunday night. (Penny Ray - Trentonian)

Man murdered in Trenton Sunday night

Penny Ray — Sun, 23 Jul 2017 23:15:12 -0400

Police investigate a murder in the 800 block of East State Street Sunday night. (Penny Ray - Trentonian)

A man was shot and killed Sunday night, marking the second capital city homicide in less than a week.

Officials say 26-year-old Tisheen Rasheen Mack was found lying on the sidewalk in the 800 block of East State Street suffering from numerous gunshot wounds.

Cops who were patrolling the area heard the gunfire. Witnesses at the scene said they heard eight shots.

At least one vehicle in the area was also struck by gunfire.

Police sources say Mack also had a gun on him, which was found while medical personnel stabilized him at the scene. Mack was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

So far this year, 13 people have been killed in Trenton, which includes the hit-and-run death of 39-year-old Lea Pringle.

Last week, 15-year-old Kyler Bragg was murdered during a shootout near the intersection of Division and Hewitt streets.

The Mercer County Homicide Task Force is investigating the shooting and no arrests have been made at this time. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call (609) 989-6406 or the Trenton Crime Stoppers tip line at (609) 278-8477.

Police investigate the capital city's second homicide in less than a week. (Penny Ray - Trentonian)