On the early evening of December 23, 2023, Kareem Abdul Jarmon Guilford Jr., a 22-year-old man from East Orange, was fatally shot on the 100 block of Mountainview Avenue in the Vailsburg section of Newark. Newark police were dispatched after a report of a shooting and found Guilford suffering from a gunshot wound; he was pronounced dead at the scene at 6:34 p.m., about twenty minutes after the initial call.

The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide/Major Crimes Task Force is leading the investigation. As of late December 2023, no arrests had been announced and no suspects were publicly identified. Authorities asked anyone with information to contact the prosecutor’s tips line; callers were told their information would be treated confidentially.

If anyone knew Kareem or saw activity in the Mountainview Avenue area that evening, please share what you know with the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office tips line.