Montclair Fatal Stabbing; Kean Student, 20, Dies (UPDATED)

MONTCLAIR, NJ — Police have made an arrest in connection with a fatal stabbing that took place in Montclair on Friday morning, authorities said.

The stabbing took place around 6 a.m. outside a home on Hartley Street, according to a joint statement from Acting Essex County Prosecutor Robert Laurino and Montclair Police Chief Todd Conforti.

Emergency responders transported the victim - Akirah Townes, 20, of Orange - to St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson. She was pronounced dead at 6:42 a.m., authorities said.

Kean University stated that Townes was a current student at the school, NJ.com reported.

On Friday night, authorities announced that police have made an arrest in connection with the stabbing. According to Laurino and Conforti:

“The incident occurred shortly after 6 a.m. as Townes was attempting to leave on a trip to Virginia Beach... An investigation by detectives from the Essex County Prosecutor’s Homicide Task Force and the Montclair Police Department led authorities to charge Ahighah Broomes, 21, of Orange, with murder of Townes. It appears that the victim and suspect were in a relationship at some point in the past. As detectives were searching for Broomes, he turned himself in at the Orange Police Headquarters.”

Authorities charged Broomes with Murder, Unlawful Possession of a Weapon and Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose. He will be lodged in the Essex County Correctional Facility pending an appearance in the Essex County Central Judicial Processing Court.

Many of Townes' friends and family took to social media to mourn the 20-year-old's loss.

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