2 Sentenced For Tragic Death of 9-year-old Girl in Bridgeton, NJ

Two men from Bridgeton will be spending decades in prison in connection to the tragic death of a 9-year-old girl in 2018.

On Wednesday, 30-year-old Michael Elliot and 23-year-old Zahmere McKoy were each sentenced to 30 years in prison without the possibility of early release.

Both were found guilty on October 26th of last year on charges of first-degree conspiracy to commit murder and second-degree reckless manslaughter. The verdict came after a four-week jury trial.

The charges stemmed from an incident on July 17, 2018, in Bridgeton when the victim, 9-year-old Jennifer Trejo, was struck and killed by a bullet that ripped through the bedroom wall of her home on Church Street.

Elliot, McKoy, along with co-defendants Leroy Frazier and Charles Gamble, were charged with her death.

Frazier was convicted in January 2020 on charges of aggravated manslaughter, conspiracy to commit murder, and attempted murder, and was sentenced to 42 years in state prison.

Gamble pleaded guilty prior to the start of a trial this past summer to first-degree aggravated manslaughter. He was sentenced last week to 13 years in prison without the possibility of early release.