On December 25, 2013 in Newark, New Jersey, 13-year-old Zainee Hailey was shot and killed while taking out the trash outside her family home on Schley Street. The shooting also killed 15-year-old Kasson Morman and critically wounded 14-year-old Abdul Frazier, who later died of his injuries. The incident was marked as the city’s 100th homicide of the year.

Zainee was a student at Bragaw Avenue Elementary School, an honor student, cheerleader, and singer in her church choir. She had just returned from a holiday dinner with her grandfather and was with her 7-year-old brother, who was not physically harmed. Initial reports suggested a possible connection to a carjacking, but investigators later tied the attack to a grievance: the shooter felt disrespected after one of the male victims supposedly flirted with his girlfriend.

Authorities arrested a 15-year-old male; because of his age his name was not released. He was charged in the killings and, after Abdul Frazier’s death, the charges were updated. The youth pleaded guilty in juvenile court and faced up to 40 years under a plea agreement. Does anyone who knew Zainee or the other victims have information that could add context to what happened that night?