Police Investigate Asbury Park Shooting
By ELLEN CARROLL
Police are continuing to investigate the shooting death of a 21-year-old Asbury Park man on DeWitt Avenue in Asbury Park Sunday night while officials grapple with the root of such violence.
Monmouth County Prosecutor Luis Valentin said police were called to DeWitt Avenue in front of the West Side Community Center at approximately 8:24 p.m. after they received a call about shots being fired.
Jakeema Kelly was found on the sidewalk in front of 115 DeWitt with multiple gunshot wounds, Valentin said. He was pronounced dead at Jersey Shore University Medical Center.
This is a community issue and we need to address it from a community-wide basis. Its not just flooding the street with cops but working with the whole community. We have to look at it holistically.
-City Manager Terry Reidy
Valentin would not comment on whether the weapon was found and would not speculate on a motive.
Anyone with information should contact the prosecutors office at 1-800-533-7443, he said, or the Asbury Park police department at 774-1300.
Mayor Kevin Sanders said he heard rumors that the killing was gang-related and if so, could have taken place anywhere.
This was a random act of violence, he said. We are not a gated community. We are open to everyone. This was very unfortunate and I feel for the family. He was a young man.
Coaster Photo
An Asbury Park man was shot to death on DeWitt Avenue, Asbury Park Sunday night.
Deputy Police Chief Mark Kinmon said there has been some trouble in the neighborhood where the killing took place.
There has been some drug-related activity there and we are assigning additional police to that area and we are working on some other options, he said.
The killing was the second on the street, just off Springwood Avenue, in five months..
In November a 22-year-old city man was shot to death following an argument with two men. The two men were indicted earlier this month in the killing.
Councilman Jim Keady, who was at the site on Monday, said the City Council has a responsibility to lead the city and develop a concrete plan of action to stop this kind of thing from happening.
Its tragic and I feel really bad for his family and friends, Keady said. I think the time has come for incidents like this not to be taken as normal and not be to taken so lightly in Asbury Park. A young mans life was taken from him.
Keady said from everything he has read and researched, crime is bred where there is a tremendous amount of poverty. Asbury Park has the lowest poverty level in the county.
Poverty reduction which will lead to a reduction in crime has to be number one on our agenda, he said. It has to be done with the same intensity and vigor that we have shown on our waterfront redevelopment and the amount of meetings and special meetings we have had…we need to have the same level of intensity on reducing poverty in our city, which will reduce crime.
Keady said that it does not mean banning poor people from the city.
It means creating an opportunity to get a hand up out of poverty, he said.
Susan Maynard, director of the West Side Community Center, said she has seen increased gang activity in the area.
A year ago I went to the city and I told them I see red, Maynard said. I saw increased gang activity and no one came to see me; no one responded. I am here every day.
Maynard said she suspended the after school program at the center because she didnt have the resources and the staff to make sure youngsters are safe walking to and from the center.
The center is struggling for survival, she said.
City Manager Terry Reidy, who is recovering at home from hip surgery, said the city has been working both ends of the terrible tragedy.
We are providing more effective police protection, Reidy said, and we are really strengthening our recreation programs. This is a community issue and we need to address it from a community-wide basis. Its not just flooding the street with cops but working with the whole community. We have to look at it wholistically.
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