Vernetta McCray was 39 and had worked for more than a decade for the New Jersey Department of Children and Families when she was killed by a stray bullet on the evening of Friday, August 21, 2020. She was on the front porch of her Hampton Avenue home in Trenton when a round struck her in the head during an incident in which police were alerted to more than 20 shots fired nearby. McCray was taken to a hospital in critical condition and died the next evening, Saturday, August 22, 2020.

Officials described the shooting as a random act of gun violence amid a rise in tensions and targeted shootings between gangs in Trenton. No arrests or suspects had been publicly identified in the immediate aftermath, and the investigation was ongoing. Her family announced her organs would be donated.

If anyone knew Vernetta, witnessed the shooting, or has information about that night on Hampton Avenue, please share what is known.