A New Jersey teenager accused of killing a 15-year-old girl and wounding a 37-year-old woman earlier this year will be tried as an adult, officials said Monday.
Willie Shuler, 17, of Jersey City, is charged with murder, attempted murder and related weapons offenses in the Jan. 18 shooting that killed Cianna Lee and wounded a second victim described in court papers as a “female relative of Lee.”
Shuler, who was 16 at the time, was arrested five days later and initially charged as a juvenile in connection with the double shooting. On Monday, Acting Hudson County Prosecutor Wayne Mello said he had been waived out of juvenile court and would be tried as an adult.
Jersey City police responded to Martin Luther King Drive and Union Street shortly after 11 p.m. on Jan. 18, prosecutors said.
Responding officers found the two women inside a car on Oak Street.
Both were taken to Jersey City Medical Center for treatment. Lee was pronounced dead about two hours later, while the adult victim was treated for a non-fatal gunshot wound to the back, police said.
Shuler, who authorities say did not know the slain 15-year-old, fired approximately nine shots into the vehicle before running away, NJ Advance Media reported, citing an affidavit of probable cause.
Surveillance camera footage allegedly shows a person firing into the vehicle, charging documents show. Shuler was identified in the video by two witnesses, authorities said.
