In the early morning hours of February 10, 2021, the stillness of a Paterson, New Jersey neighborhood was shattered by the sound of gunfire. When police responded to reports of shots fired in the area of Dover and Oak streets, they initially found no evidence of a shooting. A wider search of the area, however, led them to a grim discovery near Oak and Martin streets.
There, they found 41-year-old Nasreen Yahsi suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
Yahsi, a resident of nearby Hawthorne, was rushed to Saint Joseph's University Medical Center in critical condition. Despite the efforts of medical staff, she succumbed to her injuries the following day, on February 11, 2021. Her death was ruled a homicide, prompting an intensive investigation by the Paterson Police Department and the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office. For months, detectives worked to piece together the events that led to the fatal shooting.
The investigation ultimately led to a suspect. In September 2021, authorities announced the arrest of 23-year-old Rashawn Pelham of Paterson. At the time of his arrest in connection with Yahsi's death, Pelham was already incarcerated at the Passaic County Jail on unrelated charges. He was subsequently charged with murder and weapons offenses. While an arrest has been made, the motive behind the shooting has not been publicly disclosed.
