Newark Brothers Charged With Murder In Grandmother's Death: Prosecutor

NEWARK, NJ — Debra Derrick was on her front porch, celebrating her birthday and remembering her late twin sister, when she was shot.

More than a year later, officials arrested two of her grandchildren on murder charges, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens II and Newark Public Safety Director Brian A. O’Hara announced in a news release.

Jonathan Ritchie, 21, and his brother Josiah, 19, face charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of weapon for an unlawful purpose in connection with Derrick's March 2021 death, Stephens said.

Both brothers are in the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark, Stephens said. They are originally from Guyana and were living in Newark with their mother and stepfather, Stephens said.

Derrick, 63, was celebrating her own birthday and that of her twin, who had died seven years earlier, Essex County officials said. She worked as a certified nursing assistant at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center.

She and other family members were getting ready to release balloons at her Lehigh Avenue home when shots rang out around 8 p.m. Derrick had several gunshot wounds and emergency responders rushed her to University Hospital, where she died.

Essex County officials had offered a $25,000 reward for any information about her death.

Derrick's family told News12 that the twin sister suffered from asthma.