Newark Teen Dies in Night of Violence

Of the 12 people shot in Newark Monday night, only one was killed.

That was 15-year-old Al-Aziz Stewart, whom his mother described as a community-loving teen who wanted nothing more than to play football at a college in Florida.

"I'm just lost for words right now," said Stewart's mother, Monica Jenkins, who spoke at a rally for her son Tuesday afternoon on Bergen Street, near the crime scene.

Police said in Monday night's deadly shooting, a gunman opened fire on Scheerer Avenue from a dark-colored SUV around 10 p.m., injuring eight people, including Stewart. Stewart later died at University Hospital.

The other seven — four men and three women — suffered non-life-threatening injures and were treated at University Hospital. Authorities would not release their names, but said their ages ranged from 17 to 32.

Katherine Carter, a spokeswoman with the Essex County Prosecutor's Office, said the group was gathered in a driveway roughly 50 feet from the street when they were shot. Carter said none of the victims lived in the house on the 100 block of Scheerer Avenue, where the shooting occurred. 

Four hours earlier, a drive-by shooting at the corner of Halsey Street and Branford Place, sent three men and one woman to University Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to Newark Detective Hubert Henderson. Their names and ages were not released.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker, who referred to Monday's shootings as "targeted attacks," said the incidents are connected to several other shootings that appear to be part of an ongoing drug dispute in the city. The mayor said some of those shot Monday had criminal histories, but he wouldn't elaborate.

He did confirm that police are working to see if there's a connection between Monday's two shootings and two other shootings July 5. Police have labeled all four as "drug related." The two shootings last Tuesday morning left Shawn Miller, 20, and Marquis Robinson, 24, dead in the city's South Ward. Those killings were within a 45-minute period.

Acting Newark Police Director Samuel DeMaio said police have received complaints in the past week of "open-air" drug dealing in the Scheerer Avenue area.

But Jenkins and Stewart's stepfather, Samad Sheffield, say their son was just an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire.

"He was coming from swimming to meet some friends to find out what it was they were going to do to have some fun," said Sheffield. "No drug dealing. No gang-banging … these were children, students."

Violence in Newark this summer has left 10 people dead since June, including two teenagers. Booker, though, wouldn't clarify how many shootings this summer were linked to drug disputes.

Shooting victim Karizma Wright said she was walking around the neighborhood as she cradled her one-year-old nephew in her arms shortly before the Scheerer Avenue incident and had just ordered Chinese food from a restaurant called "Fong's." She was headed back to the restaurant to retrieve her order when a hail of bullets pierced the air. One of them struck her in the leg. "I immediately jumped on my nephew," she said.

Wright was sent to University Hospital where her leg was bandaged. She hobbled back to the scene of the crime Tuesday and watched the rally in tears as she sat in a chair with a bandaged leg propped up on another chair.

Within minutes of the shooting Monday on Scheerer Avenue, police cordoned off the intersection around Bergen Street and the avenue for an investigation that stretched into the wee hours Tuesday.

Tom Zhu, a worker at Fong's, around the corner from the shooting, said he was busy taking orders when he heard seven to eight gunshots, which he thought at first were fireworks. After the police came, he then realized it was a shooting. "This is crazy," said Zhu.

Newark Councilman Ras Baraka, who represents the South Ward, was at the scene Monday after the shooting. "I don't know why it happened. All I know is that … kids were shot," he said. "Whether it's gang related or not, it's a problem."

In order to prevent crime, Baraka said, city programs should be coordinated in areas where they are needed and not just spread out across the city.

Malik Howard lives in the two-story house near the shooting on Scheerer Avenue. He said of the crowd gathered before the shooting, "They were new in the area. They would hang out in front of the house. Started about two weeks ago. About 10 young kids, 16 to 20 years old."

At the scene of Stewart's death Tuesday, his friends tied mylar balloons and a t-shirt to a fence. Several votive candles were in a box, which displayed messages, such as "RIP MOUCH," which friends said was Stewart's nickname. At one point, one of Stewart's friends took a plastic jug of water and cleaned a small part of the ground of his blood.

Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn Murray also was at the scene Tuesday. "It's still under investigation, but we view it as a targeted shooting," she said.

Booker said rubber gloves and masks were used in one of the shootings Monday, but did not identify which one when asked and declined to comment on any evidence found. He also did not elaborate when asked if the shootings were gang related.

"We must stop this pattern of retaliation," Booker said. "We must not let the small group of individuals undermine the determination of many to reduce crime this summer." The mayor said he's confident that police will find the shooters with the cooperation of witnesses.

Booker and DeMaio launched a city-wide crime prevention program June 1, known as "Safe Summer," aimed to reduce violent crime in the city.

Booker said despite the shootings, the program has been successful. "The murder rate was up 60 percent in May and now it's up 32 percent," he said. DeMaio said murders are down 24 percent this summer compared to the same time last year.

The mayor emphasized the shootings are not a "turf war," but referred to them as "back-and-forth fighting" between "a small group of drug dealers."

Booker said the city is pouring its resources into curbing the violence, "The reality is the strategies are showing results, but it's painfully clear we have a lot of work to do."

Listen to an interview with Samad Sheffield, Al-Aziz Stewart's stepfather.