In the early morning hours of Saturday, February 25, 2017, the life of 31-year-old Tajmiah Phillips, a woman from Newark, New Jersey, was tragically cut short. At approximately 1:30 a.m., Phillips was fatally shot in the 100 block of Hillside Terrace in Irvington. The incident marked the first homicide of the year in the township.
The investigation into her death was launched by the Essex County Prosecutor's Office Homicide-Major Crimes Task Force in conjunction with the Irvington Police
Department. For weeks, the case remained active and ongoing, with law enforcement officials working to identify a suspect and determine a motive for the shooting. Friends and family mourned the loss of Phillips, who was also known by the nickname 'Mia'.
The search for a suspect led investigators to 54-year-old Timothy McAllister of Newark. Authorities tracked him to an apartment complex near Whiteville, North Carolina. On a Friday in March, as members of a joint law enforcement task force, including the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the Columbus County Sheriff's Office, attempted to apprehend him, the situation took a dramatic turn. As officers surrounded the residence and tried to make contact, they heard a single gunshot from inside. Upon entering the apartment, they discovered McAllister with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was transported to a local hospital, having survived the initial injury. In addition to the murder charge in connection with Phillips's death, McAllister also faced weapons violations in New Jersey.
