On the evening of July 14, 2021, a 53-year-old man named Pablo Herrera Chun was walking along the sidewalk on North Stockton Street in Trenton, New Jersey. At approximately 8:39 p.m., the sound of gunfire echoed in the area, and tragically, Mr. Herrera Chun was struck by a bullet in the chest. Responding to a Shot Spotter activation, Trenton Police officers found him with a gunshot wound.
He was quickly transported to a nearby hospital, but succumbed to his injuries a short time later.
The investigation into the shooting was led by the Mercer County Homicide Task Force. Evidence presented during the subsequent trial revealed that Pablo Herrera Chun was not the intended target of the violence that claimed his life. The man responsible, Blake Pittman, had been aiming at an individual who was driving north on North Stockton Street. Pittman missed his intended victim, and the stray bullet struck Mr. Herrera Chun as he was walking between Wood and Academy streets.
Two weeks after the fatal shooting, on July 28, 2021, authorities located and arrested the suspect, 29-year-old Blake Pittman. He was taken into custody without incident at a hotel in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, by members of the U.S. Marshals NY/NJ Regional Fugitive Task Force. Pittman was subsequently charged with murder and various weapons offenses.
Blake Pittman stood trial and, on November 16, 2023, a jury found him guilty on all counts, including murder. It was revealed that at the time of the shooting, Pittman had been out of prison for less than a year after serving sentences for aggravated manslaughter and robbery. Due to his prior convictions, he was sentenced under New Jersey's 'Three Strikes Law' to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
