Romel Bottex was 18 when he was shot multiple times and killed on a Newark street on February 22, 2021. The shooting happened in front of a home in the 700 block of South 20th Street. Known as Mello, he had emigrated from the Turks and Caicos Islands at age seven and was remembered for his love of basketball and his caring nature.

The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Task Force, with detectives from the Newark Police Department, investigated the case. Within days authorities identified and charged three individuals: one adult, 18-year-old Jaqway McCall, arrested at a South 18th Street residence, and two 17-year-old suspects. All three faced charges including murder, conspiracy to commit murder, unlawful possession of a weapon and related weapons charges. McCall was lodged in the Essex County Correctional Facility; the juveniles were held at the Essex County Juvenile Detention Facility.

Who in the neighborhood might have seen Romel that evening or noticed suspicious activity on South 20th Street?