In the late afternoon of September 14, 2013, a sense of grim familiarity washed over Newark's West Ward as police responded to yet another scene of violence. Inside a parked vehicle near the intersection of South 10th Street and 15th Avenue, two young lives had been extinguished by gunfire. One of the victims was NaQuese McCollum, a 16-year-old Black male from Newark, who had just begun his junior year at West Side High School. Alongside him was his 23-year-old cousin, Damien Matteaux.
Both were pronounced dead at the scene, their futures abruptly and violently cut short.
The cousins were reportedly on their way to pick up Matteaux's girlfriend from her job in the nearby town of Union. Investigators at the time believed that Matteaux was the intended target of the shooting, though a clear motive was not immediately established. The deaths of McCollum and his cousin marked the 63rd and 64th homicides in Newark that year, a staggering statistic that underscored a period of escalating violence in the city. The incident left a grieving family and a community searching for answers in the face of what seemed like a relentless tide of bloodshed.
In the days and weeks that followed, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office and the Newark Police Department launched an investigation into the double homicide. Despite their efforts, initial reports indicated that no suspects had been identified and no arrests had been made. The case, like many others during that turbulent time in the city's history, appeared to have gone cold, leaving the loved ones of NaQuese McCollum and Damien Matteaux with no sense of justice or closure. The investigation into their tragic deaths remains an open wound for the community, a stark reminder of the devastating impact of gun violence.
