Man Indicted In Shooting Death Of 9-Year-Old Mercer County Girl

MERCER COUNTY, NJ — A Mercer County grand jury indicted Isiah Roberts, 19, of Trenton in the shooting death of 9-year-old Sequoya Bacon-Jones, Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo J. Onofri said Thursday.

Roberts is charged with first-degree murder, three counts of second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, second-degree aggravated assault, fourth-degree aggravated assault and second-degree unlawful possession of a handgun. Assistant Prosecutor Michael Grillo presented the case to the grand jury, Onofri said.

On March 25, Sequoya Bacon-Jones was playing in the Kingsbury Square courtyard around 7:30 p.m. when a dispute broke out between two women over Facebook.

One of the women was Roberts' sister. An altercation broke out between Roberts and another male in the courtyard and shots were fired, Onofri said. Sequoya Bacon-Jones was shot by a stray bullet in the upper body as she ran for safety, according to authorities.

Bacon-Jones was taken to Capital Health Regional Medical Center, and then to Robert Wood Johnson New Brunswick Hospital, where she died shortly before midnight.

Roberts fled from the scene but authorities captured him as he was trying to swim across the Delaware River.

He is currently being held in the Mercer County Correction Center pending trial.

The 9-year-old girl’s death in March brought state law enforcement officials together at a press conference, calling for an end to gun violence in the city. More: 19-Year-Old Charged In Killing Of 9-Year-Old Mercer County Girl

Bacon-Jones, a fourth-grade student at Parker Elementary in Trenton, loved school and wanted to be in the STEM program, cooking classes, and cheerleading her mother Sacha Bacon-Jones said at the press conference. "She came into this world fighting and she left the world fighting," her mother said.

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