Local slain in year’s first fatal shooting
'They took away a good person who would never hurt a fly'
A local man was fatally shot on Atkins Avenue on Saturday night, according to police.
Jerome “Pretty Boy” Wright, 30, was near the Atkins Avenue deli, across the street from Boston Way Village, when he was shot and killed at around 10 p.m. on Sept. 1, said Police Chief Mark Kinmon. Wright was taken to Jersey Shore University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Kinmon declined to comment on whether Wright was dead when police arrived at the scene.
That area of the city sees gun violence on occasion, Kinmon said. Another shooting took place there in January.
No arrests have been made, but the city police department is working with the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office to investigate several leads, Kinmon said.
A BUDDING MUSICIAN
On the night of the shooting, Wright stopped at Atkins Deli on his way to a performance, said deli owner Tamer Ayyash. A budding rapper with several recordings under his belt, Wright lived across the street in the Boston Way village with his mother. He was a frequent deli customer.
“He was a good guy,” said Ayyash, who has owned the deli for 12 years. “Everybody knew him. They called him Pretty Boy because he loved to dress up all the time.”
Wright was shot after leaving the deli, Ayyash said. A small memorial with balloons and candles has been created on a nearby doorstep [pictured above].
“This hurt everybody,” Ayyash said. “It’s another unfortunate thing that happened in Asbury Park.”
This was the first fatal shooting of the year in Asbury Park, Kinmon confirmed.
“We had a great summer,” Ayyash said. “It sucks that it had to end this way.”
A FAMILY IN MOURNING
Wright’s sister, Lucretia Johnson, and brother-in-law, Tim Johnson, live in Brick and have been making funeral arrangements for Wright this week.
Mr. Johnson has known the Asbury Park native since he was eight years old, and said Wright has never been involved with gangs, despite having been incarcerated on drug charges several years ago.
“He wasn’t a bad guy,” Mrs. Johnson said. “He wasn’t a troublemaker. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time [at the time of the shooting].”
Wright is survived by two daughters, Iysis, 8, and Myonna, 6, and was a father figure to his three sisters, as well, Mrs. Johnson said.
Wright will be remembered as someone who loved music and his two young daughters, according to his sister. He was an accomplished rapper who has opened for nationally known acts in New York City, she said.
“I want the people who are responsible for this to know they took a good person away who would not hurt a fly,” Wright’s brother-in-law said. “You really affected a family that cared about this man … You took a lot away with one senseless act, so I hope this is an eye-opener for more than just the people who are responsible for this.”
Funeral services for friends and family will be held at Hunt Funeral Home, with a repast at the Masonic Temple on Langford Avenue at 5 p.m., on Friday, Sept. 7.
