Lawyer: Paterson homicide victim had been part of group working on gang truce - NorthJersey.com
PATERSON – Zahmir Hayes last week was among the young men invited as VIP guests to Paterson’s Fetty Wap concert in appreciation for their recent efforts to maintain a truce among the city’s street gangs. But less than five days later, the 21-year-old resident of the 1st Ward was fatally shot while sitting in a BMW X3 SUV parked in the 4th Ward, police said. Authorities have released few details about the killing, which they said happened at about 1:20 a. m. on Tuesday near the corner of East 22nd Street and 10th Avenue. The killing – in which the victim had attempted murder charges pending against him from a shooting two years ago - raises questions about whether there’s been a break in the peace agreement between leaders of the gangs from the 1st and 4th Wards. “There’s no reason to jump to conclusions and create a cycle of violence that’s unnecessary,” said Paterson Police Director Jerry Speziale. There will be saturated patrols, directed patrols, undercover patrols. “I don’t have enough information about what happened,” said lawyer Kenyatta Stewart, one of the community leaders who brokered the truce. In that incident, authorities say Hayes fired a shotgun at three brothers with whom he had a confrontation while walking down North 4th Street. Source: www.northjersey.com
