JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) - Three people have been charged in the death of a 17-year-old girl gunned down on a New Jersey street earlier this month, authorities said.
Heavenley Cherry, 19, of Jersey City is charged with first-degree murder, murder as an accomplice, conspiracy and weapons counts in the July 6 death of 17-year-old Tyeah Garner, the Hudson County prosecutor’s office said.
Jahquell Carter, 24, is charged with murder as an accomplice, conspiracy and weapons counts. Another 19-year-old woman was charged with hindering a murder investigation, prosecutors said.
Cherry is at Bergen County Youth Detention Center on an unrelated matter while Carter remains at large and the other defendant is in custody, prosecutors said. It’s unclear whether the defendants have attorneys; listed numbers for them couldn’t be found Sunday.
Jersey City police responded to a report of shots fired just after 10:30 p.m. on July 6 and found Garner wounded. She was taken to Jersey City Medical Center where she was pronounced dead shortly after 4:30 a.m. the following morning. The regional medical examiner’s office said she died of a gunshot wound to the head.
“Tyeah wanted the best for her life, she was enrolled in dual credit course trying to earn her associate degree in criminal justice and ensuring that she graduated in 2022,” Lincoln High Principal Chris Gadsden said in a Facebook post after her death, NJ.com reported.
Earlier, friends and family spent hours constructing a memorial for Garner.
“She was just at the wrong place at the wrong time, they just came over here to chill,” said Makayla Mac, a childhood friend, told WLNY-TV.
“She was young, she was fun, it wasn’t her time,” said Drew Spring, a Jersey City resident.
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