Late on Monday, December 1, 2025, Newark police responded to reports of gunfire at the Gardens Spires housing complex on First Street in the Central Ward. Officers found a man with gunshot wounds who was taken to University Hospital. The victim was identified as 47-year-old Michael T. Hawkins, a Newark resident, who died of his injuries and was pronounced dead at 3:26 a.m. on December 2, 2025.

The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide/Major Crimes Task Force opened and was handling the investigation. As of early December 2025, no motive had been released and no arrests were reported. Friends and family remembered Hawkins, known as MikeyO, with visitation and funeral services arranged by Perry Funeral Home and his remains placed at Evergreen Crematory in Hillside.

If anyone has information about the shooting at Gardens Spires on December 1, please share what you know.