Jordan Garcia, a 10-year-old boy, was walking home through Newark’s South Ward on the evening of November 15, 2025, when his life was cut short by gunfire. He had just left a local recreation center where he practiced and played with the West Ward Hawks, a youth football program that had become a second family to him. The route along Chancellor Avenue was familiar, a path he and his older brother took so often that it felt routine, almost safe, until that Saturday night when the sound of
shots shattered the neighborhood and changed his family forever.
The shooting unfolded near the intersection of Chancellor Avenue and Leslie Street, just outside a liquor store where several people were gathered on the sidewalk. Around 7 p.m., gunmen approached and opened fire, spraying bullets into the group with no warning. Jordan was struck along with four others: his 11-year-old brother, a 19-year-old man later identified as Masi Rogers, a 60-year-old man named Sheppard Miller, and 21-year-old Kiyah Mae Scott. Emergency responders rushed the victims to University Hospital, but Jordan and Scott did not survive their wounds. His brother and the older man were reported in stable condition, while the 19-year-old remained in critical condition in the days that followed, as the community struggled to process how an ordinary Saturday evening had become a scene of horror.
Before that night, Jordan’s world revolved around sports, school, and family. He played for the West Ward Hawks, wearing his jersey with pride and treating the field as a place where he could run, laugh, and forget about everything else. Coaches and relatives described him as outgoing, funny, and full of energy, a kid whose smile could lift an entire sideline. His mother, Stephanie Garcia, spoke of him as a vibrant and innocent child who trusted everyone, a “pure soul” whose daily routine included playing basketball and football at the recreation center with his brothers. His father, Akeem Vereen, memorialized him in a heartbreaking poem shared online, writing about a light he “didn’t know needed,” and a presence whose absence made the world feel too quiet and too dark. Friends, teammates, and teachers echoed that grief, recalling how classmates sobbed in school hallways and how the West Ward Hawks felt as if they had lost a little brother.
In the days after the shooting, Newark gathered again and again to say goodbye and to demand that his death not be ignored. At Raheem Morris Field in Vailsburg Park, where Jordan had practiced with the Hawks, family, friends, and neighbors held a vigil and balloon release, sending messages and colors into the night sky in his honor. Many wore team colors or shirts bearing his name, standing shoulder to shoulder in the cold as coaches spoke about the child who had become “family” the moment he joined the program. Another balloon release organized by the West Ward Hawks drew hundreds of people, turning the field into a sea of grieving parents, stunned children, and community members determined to show that he was loved and that his life mattered. Churches and interfaith leaders hosted services calling for peace and an end to the violence that had claimed him and so many others, their prayers mixing with angry, anguished calls for change.
While the community mourned, investigators worked to piece together what happened and who was responsible. Surveillance footage captured two shooters walking along Chancellor Avenue before opening fire, and authorities said they were searching for one or more suspects connected to the attack. Essex County officials announced a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to an arrest, and the sheriff and Newark’s mayor publicly urged those involved to surrender, warning that “there is no hiding” and vowing that law enforcement would not rest until the killers were caught. A car believed to be linked to the shooting was later spotted by Newark officers, leading to a chase and the recovery of weapons from the vehicle; several people were taken into custody after that pursuit, but investigators made clear that, as of the most recent reports, no one had been charged in Jordan’s killing and the homicide investigation remained active. For now, the city lives in the uneasy space between grief and anger, with candles and balloons marking the spot where he fell and a community waiting for the moment when someone is finally held accountable for the night that stole a child’s future.
