Orange sees second homicide of the year on Memorial Day

ORANGE, NJ — According to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, Orange suffered its second homicide of the year on Memorial Day, Monday, May 28.

“There was a homicide in Orange on May 28, 2018,” said ECPO Chief Assistant Prosecutor Thomas Fennelly on Wednesday, June 13. “A male victim was shot while he was riding a motorcycle on Park Avenue. The victim was pronounced dead a short time later at University Hospital. The victim had been identified as Neil Meyers, age 23, of Irvington.”

County officials belatedly acknowledged the first homicide in Orange — the shooting death of Orange resident Raymond White on Sunday, May 13 — perhaps due to confusion.

“There may have been some confusion, because the victim did not die right away,” said ECPO Director of Public Information Katherine Carter on Tuesday, June 5, with regard to the first homicide. “The victim is Raymond White, 32, of Orange. He was shot at 1:13 p.m. and died at 10:06 p.m. on Mother’s Day.”

Orange native Nicole Williams-James said she came across that crime scene on her way home from church on Mother’s Day.

“It happened on Oakwood Place and the body was already covered by a sheet,” when she passed by, Williams-James said Tuesday, June 12. “The ECPO was counting shell casings as far as Wilson Place.”

The ECPO handles all Essex County homicides, regardless of departmental jurisdiction, usually working in conjunction with local law enforcement. Members of county law enforcement respond first to homicides in the county.