A woman walking into a South Trenton home yesterday discovered the body of a man inside who had apparently been shot to death, authorities said.
TRENTON — A woman walking into a South Trenton home yesterday discovered the body of a man inside who had apparently been shot to death, authorities said.
Her 911 call sent police back to the same block on Smith Street where a 22-year-old innocent bystander was shot and wounded Monday morning. Yesterday, the rowhome five doors in from the intersection with Beatty Street held the body of the man, who had not been identified late yesterday.
Police said it was unclear how long the man’s body had been inside the home. The man had sustained multiple gunshot wounds, Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Kathleen Petrucci said.
The Monday morning shooting led to the arrest of 41-year-old Hamilton resident Jack Isabell. Police would not comment yesterday about any connection between the shooting that left Isabell charged with attempted murder and the homicide discovered yesterday.
Both crimes have left an imprint on the neighborhood, resident James Carter said. Carter knows the 22-year-old, who he said was minding his own business around 11 a.m. Monday when Isabell came by.
“He approached him, and then he shot at him,” Carter said. “For no reason.”
The 22-year-old was hit at least twice. Though Isabell allegedly left a bag containing crack cocaine along with his gun and clothes at the scene, police said yesterday there was no evidence the 22-year-old was buying drugs.
“They need to put him under the jail, instead of inside the jail,” Carter said of Isabell.
Isabell was still in Trenton police custody yesterday, being held on the attempted murder charges along with weapons and drug offenses. He pleaded guilty in June 2012 to aggravated assault with a firearm and was in state prison until last July. A 2006 guilty plea to possession of a sawed-off shotgun was dismissed in September of that year. Detectives found him shirtless in a park near the shooting scene two hours after the gunfire Monday.
Yesterday, a woman arrived at the house on the 200 block of Smith Street shortly after noon, went inside and found the body of the man, Lt. Steve Varn said at the scene. The woman called police, who arrived and confirmed the man was dead.
Carter said that woman was the mother of Isabell’s child.
Police Director Ralph Rivera Jr. arrived to examine the crime scene shortly after detectives began arriving, but deferred all comment to the county, which is leading the investigation with the Mercer County Homicide Task Force. Detectives from Trenton, West Windsor, the prosecutor’s office, sheriff’s office and the New Jersey State Police, all members of the task force, were on scene yesterday.
The death is the city’s eighth homicide of the year, and third during the tenure of interim Mayor George Muschal.
Muschal, who also serves as council president and South Ward councilman, said the killing hits close to home but is a reminder of the crime challenges Trenton faces.
“It’s my turf, but it don’t matter whose turf it is,” Muschal said yesterday.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the task force at
(609) 989-6406 or the Trenton Police Confidential Tip Line at (609) 989-3663.
Contact Alex Zdan at azdan@njtimes.com or (609) 989-5705.
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