On a late summer evening in Hoboken, New Jersey, the life of 26-year-old Marquise Davis was tragically cut short. On August 7, 2020, inside an apartment at 300 Grand Street, the Willingboro man was fatally shot. The Hoboken Police Department received a report of a deceased male and responded to the scene just after 10:30 p.m. Upon their arrival, officers discovered Davis with gunshot wounds to his upper body. He was pronounced dead at the scene less than half an hour later.
The Regional Medical Examiner's Office would later determine that the cause of death was gunshot wounds to the abdomen and ruled it a homicide.
The investigation into the death of Marquise Davis was a collaborative effort between the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office Homicide Unit and the Hoboken Police Department. Their work led them to a suspect, another man from Willingboro named Tahjae McDougald. Nearly two weeks after the shooting, on August 20, 2020, the 22-year-old McDougald turned himself in to authorities, accompanied by his lawyer. He was subsequently arrested and charged with murder and two weapons offenses. At the time of the incident, McDougald had been out of state prison on parole for only seven months.
The legal proceedings that followed brought a measure of closure to the case. In September 2022, Tahjae McDougald pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of aggravated manslaughter. On December 9, 2022, a judge sentenced him to 14 years in New Jersey State Prison. The sentence is governed by the No Early Release Act, which mandates that he must serve 85 percent of his term before being eligible for parole. In a statement, the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office expressed hope that the sentence would aid in the healing process for the family and loved ones of Marquise Davis.
