New Jersey Father-To-Be Shot To Death In Possible Case Of Mistaken Identity, Police Say
NEWARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) – A Newark father-to-be was gunned down as he was sitting in his car.
Sources tell CBS2 police are now investigating the shooting as a possible case of mistaken identity and the victim's killer is still on the loose.
Remnants of crime scene tape still lingered on South 9th Street a day after police say 23-year-old Jahahd Payne was shot to death.
"It was wee hours of the morning. I was in the house… Thought I heard something," Phillip James said.
"I seen a car on a flatbed and it looked kinda odd to me. It let me know something happened… It was serious."
That car likely the same one the college student was sitting in when investigators say he was gunned down just after 3 a.m. Monday morning.
Payne was rushed to University Hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
"This should've never happened," family friend Joseph Bumbrey said.
"He was in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Bumbrey says Payne, who lived in Randolph with his parents, was simply visiting some family in Newark that day.
"I was devastated because Shawn came and told me his son got killed," Bumbrey told CBS2's Reena Roy.
"Churchgoing every time I see him we would talk about scriptures."
Bumbrey added that Payne was a college student with a bright future. He was set to be married and had a baby on the way.
"Just talking to him Saturday and I said welcome to parenthood," the family friend added.
"He was a young good man he was about to be a father excited about that."
"It's just something that happens around here," Phillip James claimed. "It's kinda sad."
Police say this is still a very active investigation, but so far, nobody has been arrested.
