In the early hours of a Sunday morning in Jersey City, the calm was shattered by the sound of gunfire inside a smoke shop on Danforth Avenue. When police responded to reports of shots fired at approximately midnight on April 23, 2023, they discovered an unresponsive male inside the retail establishment. The man, later identified as 23-year-old Khalil King of Fayetteville, North Carolina, had sustained a fatal gunshot wound.
Despite the efforts of emergency responders, he was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after, at 12:16 a.m.
The Hudson County Prosecutor's Office Homicide Unit, in conjunction with the Jersey City Police Department, immediately launched an investigation into the shooting. Initially, the circumstances surrounding the incident were unclear, and no arrests were made in the immediate aftermath. The community was left with questions as authorities worked to piece together the events that led to the young man's death. The Regional Medical Examiner's Office later determined that the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head and the manner of death was a homicide.
After a thorough investigation that spanned several months, law enforcement officials made a significant breakthrough in the case. On Thursday, July 13, 2023, members of the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office Homicide Unit arrested a suspect in connection with the fatal shooting. Anton Mair, a 28-year-old resident of Jersey City, was taken into custody at a residence in Bayonne. Mair was subsequently charged with murder, unlawful possession of a weapon, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. Following his arrest, he was transported to the Hudson County Correctional Facility to await his first court appearance.
