In the spring of 2021, a tragedy unfolded in Union, New Jersey, forever altering the lives of a family. Wanita A. Joffer, a 41-year-old woman, was found deceased inside the K&K Jamaican restaurant. Her death, which occurred on or around April 2nd, was not an isolated incident but part of a grim discovery that also claimed the life of her sister, Karen A. Lemaitre, who was 39.
The sisters were discovered at the establishment located near the Newark border.
The events leading to the discovery of the two women began to unravel the day before. Authorities had located the body of 45-year-old Akanni A. Martin, the co-owner of the restaurant, in a rental car in Union Township. He had died from a gunshot wound. Investigators stated they did not suspect foul play in Martin's death and indicated that the weapon was recovered from the vehicle. Following this discovery, police visited the Hillside home Martin shared with Karen Lemaitre to notify his next of kin, at which point they realized that both Lemaitre, who was the mother of Martin's children, and her sister, Wanita, were missing.
This led investigators to the K&K Jamaican Restaurant, where they found the bodies of the two sisters. The Union County Prosecutor's Office subsequently ruled their deaths as homicides. A family member later revealed that the sisters had been brutally murdered, stating they were beaten and suffocated. While no arrests were publicly announced, the circumstances strongly suggested a murder-suicide. The prosecutor's office noted that there was no further known threat to the community, a phrasing often used in cases of domestic violence where the perpetrator is also deceased. Akanni A. Martin is widely believed to be the suspect in the murders of Wanita A. Joffer and her sister before taking his own life. The tragic event left a total of fifteen children between the two sisters motherless.
