Two men have been arrested in the death of an auto mechanic shot by a stray bullet while working on a car in Jersey City last month as the vehicle's owner sat inside the car, horrified, prosecutors said Wednesday.
James Wheeler, 19, and Marquis Allen, 18, both of Jersey City, were arrested in Newark late Tuesday in the death of 50-year-old Larry Freeman May 27. Both are charged with murder and weapons offenses.
Freeman was hit by a stray bullet while taking a look at a car on Sackett Street between Bramhall Avenue and Atlantic Street. The bullets flew as school was letting out at nearby Ollie Culbreth Jr. Elementary School, prompting authorities to send kids back into the building, sources familiar with the investigation told NBC 4 New York at the time of the shooting.
Wheeler and Allen are expected to appear in court later Wednesday. Bail for both men is set at $500,000 cash; it wasn't clear if the defendants had attorneys.
Freeman's wife of four years, Claressa Williams, said she saw him shortly before he was killed. He told her, "I love you, I'll see you when I get home," she said.
"He's a quiet guy. He works, he comes in the house, and he comes back out and does the same thing every day," she said. "I don't understand who would do this to him."
