Photo Courtesy of ECPO Andre Higgs
A 53-year-old man was sentenced to life in prison for fatally shooting an East Orange teacher.
Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens II announced last week that Andre Higgs, of Watchung, has been sentenced to life in prison for the 2015 murder of his former girlfriend Latrena May, of East Orange.
On Dec. 23, 2025, Higgs was found guilty of first-degree murder and second-degree unlawful possession of a handgun-his second conviction and life sentence for this murder.
Following the jury’s verdict, Higgs was also convicted of first-degree unlawful possession of a handgun by a person previously convicted of a crime under the No Early Release Act, as well as second-degree certain persons not to have weapons.
The prosecution proved that on May 1, 2015, Higgs shot and killed the 27-year-old teacher outside her East Orange home. The shooting occurred after May fled from Higgs and flagged down a police vehicle for help. As East Orange Detective Kemon Lee exited his vehicle and approached, Higgs fired multiple shots at May. Lee returned fire, striking Higgs in the legs. After the shooting, Higgs barricaded himself inside the residence, where the couple’s then four-year-old daughter was sleeping.
Higgs was sentenced to life in prison for the first-degree murder, which is a 75-year term. Under the No Early Release Act (NERA), he must serve 85 percent of that sentence before becoming eligible for parole. He was also sentenced to an additional 20 years on the weapons convictions.
Higgs was previously sentenced to life in prison in 2017 following his initial conviction for murder. In 2023, the New Jersey Supreme Court overturned that conviction and ordered a new trial, ruling that Higgs’ attorneys should have been granted access to Lee’s internal affairs records and permitted to cross-examine him about prior on-duty shootings.
After sentencing, Deputy Chief Assistant Prosecutor Justin Edwab said, “Andre Higgs has once again been sentenced to life in prison—a consequence fully warranted by his extensive and violent criminal history as well as the brutal and senseless crimes he committed on May 1, 2015. While no sentence can bring back Latrena May, we hope that knowing Higgs will spend the rest of his life in prison provides the May family with some measure of peace and serves as a solemn acknowledgment of their profound loss.”
Judge Ronald Wigler presided over the trial.
Andre Higgs
About the Author
