In the early morning hours of a Sunday in September 2019, Rajahn Alston was shot and killed in Paterson, New Jersey. Officers responded to reports of gunfire around 4 a.m. in the 300 block of 12th Avenue and found Alston and a 35-year-old man with gunshot wounds. Emergency responders administered CPR to Alston, who had been shot in the back, and he was taken to St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center where he was pronounced dead a little over half an hour later. The other victim was reported in stable condition.

A lifelong Paterson resident, he was a father of five and remembered by family as loving, caring, and kind. The Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office and the Paterson Police Department opened a homicide investigation and appealed for public help. No arrests or suspect identifications had been publicly announced as of late 2025.

If anyone has information about what happened that night or knew Rajahn, please share tips with investigators.