On the late afternoon of March 1, 2022, 19-year-old Shimon Nesmith Jr. was shot while sitting in a vehicle on North Willow Street in Trenton, New Jersey. At least 11 rounds were fired, and the vehicle—riddled with bullets—crashed into the Life in the Word Outreach Ministry on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. First responders found Nesmith inside the heavily damaged car with multiple gunshot wounds; he was taken to Capital Health Regional Medical Center and pronounced dead a short time later. A 21-year-old female passenger survived after being shot in the face.

The Mercer County Homicide Task Force and the Trenton Police Department led the investigation. Less than two months after the shooting, authorities charged two Trenton residents, 23-year-old Quashawn Hightower and 21-year-old Desire Knighton, with murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, multiple counts of aggravated assault, and weapons offenses; both were already incarcerated in Pennsylvania on an unrelated weapons charge when the murder charges were filed. Prosecutors announced plans to seek detention pending trial. A motive for the shooting has not been made public.

If anyone knew Shimon, the passenger, or has information about what led to the shooting, please share what is known with investigators.