In the evening hours of September 18, 2024, a trip to a supermarket in Newark, New Jersey, turned fatal for 26-year-old Nakiyyah T. Blue. A resident of nearby Bloomfield, Blue was inside the store on the 300 block of South 7th Street when gunfire erupted at approximately 8:45 p.m. Newark police officers, responding to reports of the shooting, found Blue unresponsive inside the supermarket, having sustained multiple gunshot wounds.
Despite the immediate efforts of first responders, she was pronounced dead at the scene less than fifteen minutes later, at 8:57 p.m.
The investigation into the shooting was led by the Essex County Prosecutor's Homicide Task Force. Their efforts led to the identification of a suspect, Anthony Hilliard. Hilliard was apprehended after he was located at the Hudson County Jail. He had been receiving treatment at a hospital for gunshot wounds he sustained in Jersey City on the same night of Blue's death. Following his release from the hospital, he was taken into custody.
Anthony Hilliard has since been charged with the murder of Nakiyyah Blue, along with weapons offenses. While an arrest has been made, the motive for the shooting remains a central question in the ongoing investigation. Authorities have continued to seek information from the public to piece together the circumstances that led to the tragic event inside the West Ward supermarket.
