South Jersey Woman Killed On New Year's Eve On Her Way To Church

A New Jersey woman was killed on New Year's Eve on her way to church, and after steering a friend away from getting drunk, according to reports.

Gladys Barrera, 45, was found shot at 11:31 p.m. along with a 37-year-old man outside a house on the 100 block of Brown Street in Trenton, according to nj.com. Barrera was pronounced dead at the scene.

The man, who was not identified, was treated and released at Capital Health Regional Medical Center, according to nj.com. The Mercer County Homicide Task Force was called to the scene and continuing to investigate the shooting. Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to contact the Trenton police.

The man told The Trentonian that he had planned to go out for a beer on New Year’s Eve. The female friend instead invited him to church. “I said, ‘What the hell. I’ll do the right thing. I’ll go to church. It’ll be better than going to a bar and getting drunk and this is what happened,’” the 37-year-old male told the publication.

Then she was shot and killed. “I was opening the door when I heard the loud boom and she just fell right there,” the man told The Trentonian. “I thought I lost my eye because I couldn’t see. It was because all the blood I had in my eye that I couldn’t see. My glasses may have saved my eye.”

We'll have more information as it comes in.

Patch photo