In the early morning hours of Saturday, September 16, 2017, the life of Shawn “Squirm” Harrell, a 40-year-old Black male, was tragically cut short in a hail of gunfire in Trenton, New Jersey. Just a week before his 41st birthday, the father of eight was standing next to his blue Dodge Durango on Power Street, in the vicinity of Daymond Street, when he was shot multiple times around 2:30 a.m. Responding officers found Harrell suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
He was rushed to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Family members, who were notified of the devastating news in the pre-dawn hours, described Harrell as a loving father and a 'family man.' They believed he was an innocent bystander, caught in a senseless act of violence that has become all too common. His cousin, Robin Green, lamented the prevalence of guns on the street, expressing the profound hurt and unfairness of his death. The grief of Harrell's family was compounded by the fact that this was not the first time they had lost a loved one to gun violence in Trenton.
In the hours that followed the shooting, the crime scene was cordoned off with yellow police tape. Harrell’s blue Dodge Durango remained parked at the scene, bearing what appeared to be gunshot damage to the front window. A white baseball cap, said to belong to Harrell, lay on the ground nearby as detectives processed the scene for evidence. The shooting was one of two homicides that occurred in the same South Trenton neighborhood within a short period, prompting concern and a call for peace from the city's mayor.
Despite the ongoing homicide investigation, online sources available in the years following Shawn Harrell’s death do not contain information regarding any arrests made or suspects identified in connection with his murder. The case, like that of another of his relatives lost to gun violence years earlier, remains without a publicly reported resolution, leaving a family to grapple with their loss and the absence of justice.
