Ex-Boyfriend Murdered 'Hardworking' NJ College Student In Montclair

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — An Orange resident who stabbed his ex-girlfriend to death in Montclair eight years ago was found guilty of murder earlier this week.

Ahigjah Broomes, 29, fatally stabbed Akirah Townes, 20, of Orange, on Bloomfield Avenue on April 27, 2018, according to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.

A jury returned a guilty verdict against Broomes on Monday after a six-day trial. He was convicted on charges of first-degree murder, third-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and fourth-degree unlawful possession of a weapon.

Broomes stalked Townes – a student at Kean University – killing her four months after she ended their relationship, prosecutors said.

Townes was with a group of friends on Bloomfield Avenue, preparing to leave for a trip to Virginia Beach, when Broomes approached her armed with a knife. He stabbed her several times as she tried to escape – and her friends tried to intervene, prosecutors said.

Emergency responders transported Townes to St. Joseph’s Medical Center. She was pronounced deceased at the hospital.

Broomes fled the scene after the stabbing. He later surrendered himself at the police headquarters in Orange.

“While no verdict can bring Akirah back, this decision holds the defendant fully accountable for this abhorrent act of domestic violence,” assistant prosecutor Melanie Laprade said.

Prosecutors said Broomes faces a minimum sentence of 30 years to life in state prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 29.

Heartbroken family members and friends have described Townes as a “great girl,” a “hard-working college student” and a person “full of life.”

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