Man Allegedly Shot Newark Mom Just Steps From Her Kids: Prosecutors

Newark, NJ – Authorities have arrested an Essex County man accused of fatally shooting a Newark couple only steps away from the mother’s three children.

The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office identified the alleged shooter as Jeffrey Holland, 27, of East Orange.

The children, ages 1, 3 and 4, were inside the third-floor apartment around 9:30 p.m. Saturday when shots rang out, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office told WNBC-TV.

The children weren’t hurt during the incident, authorities stated.

Ashley Jones, 23, and Jarrell Marshall, 27, both died of multiple gunshot wounds at the Clinton Place apartment in Newark, according to the report. “She was a good mom. She was a good friend. She was a good person. She didn’t deserve what happened to her,” another neighbor told the station.

Jones’ three children were initially taken to University Hospital and were later placed in the care of family members and the state Department of Child Protection and Permanency, according to the report, while a neighbor said he saw the baby being taken away from the crime scene by police.

Holland has also been charged with the strangulation death of 21-year-old Tiniquah Rouse of Newark on Jan. 29, ABC NY reported.

Rouse was found dead in the bathtub of her apartment by a family friend, but her five-month-old son was later found in a closet in the home unharmed, ABC NY stated.