Essex County officials announced today that the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide/Major Crimes Task Force, which includes detectives from the Newark Police Department, is investigating the fatal shooting of 8-year-old Jahmeer Allen.
Police said on the night of Sunday, August 29, Newark Police officers went to the 100 block of Schuyler Avenue in Newark, where there was a report of an eight-year-old suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Police said the preliminary investigation indicates the child, who is disabled and in a wheelchair, sustained fatal injuries.
At the time of the shooting, there was a 10-year-old in the house and Jahnaya Black, the victim’s aunt, who was sleeping.
According to police, three adults have been charged. Shaneefah Allen, 43, the grandmother and legal guardian of the victim, and Jahnaya Black, 23, the victim’s aunt, have both been charged with second-degree endangering the welfare of a child.
Shaneefah Allen was not home at the time the shooting occurred, according to police.
Black was the only adult in the home when the shooting occurred.
Marquis Wright, 18, the victim’s uncle, was charged with second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon; third-degree endangering the welfare of a child; third-degree transporting a manufactured firearm without a serial number and the disorderly persons offense of allowing a minor access to a loaded firearm.
It is alleged that Wright brought the gun into the apartment and left it unattended.
The two women are in custody. Wright remains at large.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide/Major Crimes Task Force at 1-877-TIPS-4EC or 1-877-847-7432.