Mother Killed Just Steps From Her Baby, 2 Other Children In Newark

A man and a woman were fatally shot just steps from her three small children in a New Jersey home, authorities said.

The children, who ages 1, 3 and 4, were inside the third-floor apartment at around 9:30 p.m. Saturday when shots rang out, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office told WNBC-TV. The children weren’t hurt.

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.

Neighbors said Jones was a victim of domestic violence, while one neighbor, who didn’t want to give her name, described one of her last interactions with Jones, according to the report.

One neighbor, who asked to remain anonoymous, told CBS2’s Hazel Sanchez that Jones was having problems with an ex-boyfriend. “Her right eye was black and blue,” the neighbor told the station. “She was just shaken, she was saying she had a restraining order.”

No arrest has been made, and the county’s homicide task force is leading the investigation. A motive for the shooting remains under investigation, according to the report.