Irvington suffers third homicide of 2016

IRVINGTON, NJ — The township suffered its third homicide of the year Thursday, Oct. 13, on Montgomery Street.

According to a press release from acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray and Irvington police Director Tracy Bowers, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Major Crimes Task Force and the Irvington Police Department are investigating the incident in which Ronald Mayweather, 32, was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:18 p.m.

“Shortly before 1:30 p.m., Irvington police officers were dispatched to the 100 block of Montgomery Street on reports of a shooting,” Chief Assistant Prosecutor Thomas Fennelly of the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Unit said Thursday, Oct. 13. “Arriving officers observed an unresponsive male suffering from apparent gunshot wounds.”

Mayweather is the township’s third homicide of 2016; occurring just four days after the second homicide of the year took place Sunday, Oct. 9, in the Irvington Housing Authority complex. That victim, Lawrence W. Bennett, 38, of Irvington, was pronounced dead at the scene at 10:35 p.m.

Prior to Sunday, Oct. 9, there had only been one homicide in Irvington during the first nine months of this year, something of which Mayor Tony Vauss’s administration has been proud, since the mayor has promised to make Irvington clean and safe.

“We just had our third homicide of the year and, even though that’s pretty good in a town that registered 14 homicides last year, three is still too many,” Vauss said Thursday, Oct. 13, during the Irvington Chamber of Commerce’s 31st annual Police and Fire Heroism Awards Dinner at the Hanover Manor restaurant in East Hanover.

“We’ve made some great strides in improving public safety under Public Safety Director Tracy Bowers, but there’s still more work to do. We’re going to keep striving to make Irvington safer and cleaner on my watch as mayor.”