2 charged with murder in shooting of Trenton, NJ teen

TRENTON — Two residents are accused of killing 19-year-old Shimon Nesmith Jr. and shooting a woman in New Jersey's capital city.

Quashawn Hightower, 23, and Desire Knighton, 21, each faces a litany of charges including murder, attempted murder, and aggravated assault.

Nesmith was found clinging to life in an SUV that had crashed into the Life in the Word Outreach Ministry on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, according to the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office.

The local teen was suffering from several gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead soon after. Nesmith was the third homicide victim of the year in Trenton.

Photos of the scene showed the SUV had crashed through a fence and into the brick wall of the ministry building.

Investigators found the Mercedes riddled with bullets. Trenton police received an alert from the city's Shot Spotter system at around 3:30 p.m. that recorded 11 shots fired, according to prosecutors.

A 21-year-old woman in the vehicle with Nesmith was shot in the face. She was taken to a local hospital and survived.

It's not clear what led to the fatal shooting. Prosecutors did not reveal a motive.

Both Hightower and Knighton are already behind bars in Pennsylvania on a firearms offense. Prosecutors said they would move to extradite them both to New Jersey.