In the early morning hours of May 11, 2016, the life of 30-year-old Wayne Sewell, a Black/African American male, was tragically cut short on a street in Camden, New Jersey. Shortly after 1 a.m., gunfire erupted on the 1500 block of South 7th Street in the city's Liberty Park neighborhood. Responding officers found Sewell suffering from gunshot wounds.
He was rushed to Cooper University Hospital, but his injuries proved fatal, and he was pronounced dead at approximately 1:19 a.m.
The shooting marked another grim statistic in a city grappling with a surge in violence. At the time of Sewell's death, Camden had already recorded 17 homicides for the year, a significant increase compared to the nine that had occurred by the same time in the previous year. The incident contributed to a growing sense of unease within the community as the city's homicide rate trended towards levels not seen in several years.
In the wake of the shooting, the Camden County Prosecutor's Office and the Camden County Police Department launched an investigation into Sewell's murder. Authorities appealed to the public for any information that might lead to the apprehension of those responsible for the killing. Despite their efforts and public appeals, no arrests have been made in the case. The description of any potential suspects was not made available, and those who shot Wayne Sewell have not been identified, leaving his case unsolved.
