Off-Duty Corrections Officer Shot, Killed in Newark's Downtown

An off-duty Essex County corrections officer who also was the mother of a one-year-old daughter was shot and killed in downtown Newark early Sunday morning, according to officials with the Essex County Prosecutor's Office.

Essex County Chief of Detectives Anthony Ambrose said 32-year-old Debora Ferreira, of Irvington, was shot in a car near the Maiden Lane and Halsey Street intersection at 2:55 a.m. She later died at University Hospital shortly after 3 a.m.

Ambrose said Ferreira had been a block away at a "social club" on William Street before the shooting, but did not elaborate. He said police do not have a motive.

Acting Newark Police Director Samuel DeMaio said his department is working with the county's homicide and major crimes task force "to bring closure to this horrific act of violence."

Records show Ferreira had been employed by the Essex County Corrections Department as an officer since July 2007. Officials said she worked at Essex County Correctional Facility on Doremus Avenue in the city.

Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr., who oversees the corrections department, called the incident "a tragic loss for Essex County." "Our sympathies go out to her family," he said.

The scene Sunday morning around 10 a.m. showed little signs of an investigation hours before. A piece of yellow police tape that once cordoned off the streets was tied to a parking lot fence. The Maiden Lane-Halsey Street corner is a desolate area with two parking lots surrounded by commercial buildings.

Ferreira is the second female corrections officer shot dead in Newark in less than a month. . The South Brunswick woman was an officer employed at the New Jersey State Prison in Trenton. Owens' alleged killer and boyfriend, Allen Barron, 21, shot himself hours later at a Greyhound bus station in Virginia.

Ambrose said Essex County Crime Stoppers is offering a $10,000 reward for information about Ferreira's death.

Anyone with information is asked to call 1-877-847-7432. Ambrose said all calls are confidential.

This is a breaking news story. Continue to check Patch for updates.