13-YEAR-OLD JERSEY CITY FEMALE CHARGED IN FATAL SHOOTING OF 35-YEAR-OLD MAN ON MLK DRIVE AND WILKINSON AVENUE

Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez has released the following information:

The Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Unit has charged a thirteen-year-old Jersey City female with the shooting death of 35-year-old Niles Holmes, who was shot on Martin Luther King Drive and Wilkinson on the afternoon of December 10, 2020.

The teen was apprehended and arrested by Jersey City Police Officers just before 7 p.m. on Thursday, December 24, 2020, in the area of Union Street and MLK Drive.

She has been charged as a juvenile with Murder in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3A(1)(2), a first-degree crime; Aggravated Assault in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1(B)(1), a second-degree crime; Possession of a Weapon (firearm) for an Unlawful Purpose in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:39-4A(1), a second-degree crime; and Unlawful Possession of a Weapon (firearm) in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5B(1), a second-degree crime; and Possession of a Firearm by a Minor in violation of N.J.S.A 2C:58-6.1, a second-degree crime.

On Thursday, December 10, 2020, just after 4:16 p.m., members of the Jersey City Police Department responded to the area of Martin Luther King Drive and Wilkinson Avenue on a report of a person shot.

Responding officers found the victim, an unconscious 35-year-old Jersey City man, later identified as Niles Holmes, with apparent multiple gunshot wounds to the upper body. The victim was transported to the Jersey City Medical Center in a life-threatening condition. He was pronounced deceased at 6:12 p.m. The Regional Medical Examiner’s Office determined the cause of death as gunshot wound to the upper torso and manner of death as homicide.

A short time after the initial victim was located, Jersey City Police found a second victim of the shooting, a 24-year-old Jersey City man, who had sustained two graze wounds to the arm. He was transported to the Jersey City Medical Center where he was treated for the non-life-threatening injuries.

Prosecutor Suarez credited the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Unit and the Jersey City Police Department for the investigation and arrest.

The above charges are merely accusations and the juvenile is presumed innocent until proven guilty. R.P.C.3.6(b)(6).