Teen Girl Killed, Another Hurt in New Jersey Shooting

Authorities say a 14-year-old girl was killed and another girl was wounded when shots rang out in Paterson.

It's not yet known what sparked the shooting on Clinton Street, which was reported around 11:25 p.m. Saturday. A city official identified the slain girl as Nazerah Coleman.

Authorities have disclosed few details about the incident, which occurred within a half a mile of another shooting that had left an 18-year-old city resident wounded earlier Saturday. But officials tell The Record that they haven't found any links between the two shootings.

Passaic County prosecutors said Sunday that the wounded teen, identified only as a 14-year-old girl, remained hospitalized in stable condition. But further information on the teen's injuries was not disclosed.

No arrests have been made in either shooting.

Friends and family say Coleman was an avid basketball player who was set to play this season at Kennedy High School and had the potential to possibly play professionally one day. They described her as a good girl who was always smiling.

Coleman's death comes about two months after another Paterson girl, 12-year-old Genesis Rincon, was killed when a stray bullet struck her while she was riding a scooter to a family gathering.

The two deaths have many Paterson residents calling on local and state leaders to do more to help end the ongoing violence in the city.

"We have to do something more than all the vigils and marches. Those things don't seem to be helping," said school board member Corey Teague.