Camden girl, 16, suspect in 13-year-old's death, turns herself in
A 16-year-old girl suspected in the killing of a 13-year-old boy in Camden last week has turned herself in to police, according to sources with knowledge of the investigation.
A 16-year-old girl suspected in the killing of a 13-year-old boy in Camden last week has turned herself in to police, according to sources with knowledge of the investigation.
The girl, whom The Inquirer is not identifying because she is a juvenile, has not been charged in the death of Nathaniel "Nate" Plummer Jr., who was gunned down on the street late Thursday night. She was charged over the weekend with attempted murder in a separate Oct. 30 shooting, authorities said.
Andy McNeil, a spokesman for the Camden County Prosecutor's Office, would not comment on whether any suspects had been identified in Plummer's killing. McNeil and Dan Keashen, a spokesman for the Camden County police force, confirmed that a 16-year-old girl surrendered over the weekend in connection with the October 30 nonfatal shooting, but declined to comment on any potential connection in Plummer's killing.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, and we are aggressively working with our law enforcement partners to bring a suspect to justice," Keashen said.
The girl turned herself in at the police station early Saturday morning, accompanied by her mother, according to multiple sources. She had been wanted on charges of attempted murder since the Oct. 30 shooting of a Camden man on the 2600 block of Mickle Street in East Camden, just blocks from where Plummer was killed last week. Authorities had been unable to locate her until this weekend.
According to one law enforcement source, the girl is also a suspect in additional crimes in the city.
Plummer, who attended Octavius V. Catto Community School, was the city's youngest homicide victim in recent years - and the first of 2016. Several of his relatives work for the school district, and school officials said he was well-liked and a strong basketball player.
On Saturday, religious leaders and other residents of Camden held a prayer vigil at the scene of the shooting.
Authorities said 911 calls and the ShotSpotter activation system alerted them to the shooting at around 11:15 p.m. Thursday on the 2900 block of Line Street.
Since then, rumors have circulated on the streets that police were looking for the teenage girl to question her in the slaying. Other teenagers in the city shared her name and photograph on social media, sparking concerns among some members of law enforcement that the girl's life was in danger.
A woman who was at the girl's last-known Camden address on Sunday said that the girl was facing charges in connection with the killing. She declined to speak further.
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Staff writer Michael Boren contributed to this article.