In Mercer county alone, there are more than 150 unsolved murder cases.
Tom Watters doesn't like the phrase "cold case." The veteran homicide detective for the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office takes the stance that no case is ever "cold."
"Someone could walk in here right now with new information and we'll run with it. That happened last week, on a 10-year-old case," Watters said in a recent interview.
Many homicide cases are solved quickly, often in a matter of days, while still in the collective memory of those involved and the public.
Others, though, become a name on a white board and a manila folder on a detective's desk - waiting for a break or tip.
The task force has detailed records dating to 1980 on unsolved killings, which number well over 150 just for Mercer County.
Watters leads the county's Homicide Task Force, a collaboration of prosecutor's detectives and partner detectives from police departments around the county, who work on the task force for 6 to 12 months at a time.
After forming in late 2013 when Trenton had a record-breaking 37 homicides, the task force worked 34 cases in 2014.
In 2015, Trenton homicides dropped by half with 17 and Watters said he hopes the trend continues so detectives can work unsolved cases from all county towns.
If the homicide rate stays low, Watters said the possibility exists that he could dedicate a detective to unsolved cases full time.
Acting Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo Onofri said the task force detectives, "work tirelessly to bring justice to the victims' families and make defendants answer for their crimes."
And the county task force model is working too, Onofri said. "We renew agreements with our partner agencies every year and with the successes of this task force, I do think the Mercer County Homicide Task Force is here to stay."
Watters and his detectives highlighted five case where a tip from the public might be all the difference needed to move a case forward. No matter how small, he said, "We'll look at anything."
Cornelius Boakai. April 11, 2013
Boakai was a 21-year-old student at Mercer County Community College when he was found shot to death on Trenton's Bryn Mawr Avenue not far from the car his parents had recently bought him to commute to his classes.
Cornelius Boakai Police at the time said he got into an argument with his killer and the two struggled over a gun. Boakai was shot in the back and his killer fled on foot.
"Somebody somewhere knows something,'' Boakai's father Morris Boakai said publicly at an anti-violence event after his son's killing.
Watters agrees.
All theories are on the table, but Boakai may have been targeted for his car or was being robbed when he fought back, Watters said.
Joshua Moore, Dec. 3, 2012
Something happened in the housing projects off Coolidge Avenue in Trenton that caused Moore to jump into the driver's seat of a van and speed away.
His killer, or killers, chased him in a car and fired at him as both vehicles sped through the city.
Joshua Moore The 17-year-old made it to Pennington Avenue near Reservoir Street when the van crashed into utility pole, trapping the teen in the wreckage.
Seconds later, Moore's killer came upon the scene and executed the teen in a barrage of gunfire. He had no chance of escaping, police said.
Although the killing happened at night, Watters believes many people witnessed the confrontation on Coolidge Avenue, and Moore's killing on Pennington Avenue.
At the the crime scene, and later at a city hospital, officers were called in to quell minor disturbances because so many people gathered and emotions bubbled over.
"People out there witnessed this," Watters said.
John William Lassiter, March 13, 2007
March 2007 was a tough month for Trenton police.
Street gangs were firmly embedded in city neighborhoods and the Capital City had seven homicides - including five killings in a 10-day stretch.
In the middle of the violence, 21-year-old Lassiter was gunned down at Rutherford and Marion streets on March 13. A car slowed and opened fire, hitting him multiple times. One of the bullets tore into his armpit and pierced his aorta.
Lassiter went by the street name - "Killer."
Despite the name, his family said he was a good kid and likely died due to a personal beef over a woman, not street crime, a theory police discussed at the time as well.
His family called him "John John" and said he'd been hanging out with his sisters on Rutherford Avenue on the night of the killing. He then joined a group of male friends after his mother picked up his sisters, his family said in 2007.
They believed a car was waiting, and stalked Lassiter as he walked home. Hours after the shooting, Trenton police broadcasted alerts for a maroon four-door vehicle wanted in connection with the killing. Nothing ever came of it.
Watters concedes the case is a cold one, but he believes it's solvable due to the number of people Lassiter was with before the killing and that it may be personal, not cloaked in the gang world.
Nathan Malik Clemons, August 1, 2004
Clemons, 25, was shot in the head inside the Beechwood Gardens apartment building on Beechwood Avenue in Trenton on a summer night in 2004. He died at the scene.
Clemons had just left a friend's apartment and Trenton detectives worked on the theory at the time that the drug trade was involved. Dealers were known to enter the building to sell drugs out of public view.
Detectives walked the halls and interviewed several residents and visitors, but came up empty.
Two days later, a 61-year-old man was killed during a home invasion robbery at his Ewing home. Three young men were charged with the crime, and the next year, one of the suspect's defense lawyers asked a judge to see all police reports on the Clemons killing.
The lawyer was hoping there might be evidence in the reports that would exonerate his client. The judge examined the reports, found no connection in the cases and denied the request.
Watters said the Clemons killing is the kind of case where the task force could use an assist from the public, due to the number of residents who may have seen a gunman before the crime, or as he fled the four-story building.
Shakir Williams, July 12, 2013
Williams played freshman football for the Trenton Central High School's Tornadoes.
Shakir Williams He wore No. 9 and impressed coaches as a sleek, speedy receiver.
"A D-1 (Division 1) kid ... the whole package as a receiver. He caught anything he could reach," a coach once said of Williams.
He never played after that year, but was practicing with the team just before he was shot dead at the age of 17 during a raucous house party on Deutz Avenue in Hamilton in 2013.
Four others were also shot at the party when a male gunman fired at revelers celebrating a 15-year-old girl's birthday.
Hamilton police arrived to a chaotic scene.
Teens were running in all directions, fleeing a gunman, so officers drew their guns and detained some. One neighbor said it looked like an emptying stadium. One drunken teen girl threw a public fit and had to be cuffed.
During the pandemonium, medics tried to get to the victims as emergency vehicles clogged the residential row just off Lalor Street. They found one victim and three others surfaced at local hospitals.
Then, an hour after the first 911 call, officers found Williams body inside a bedroom.
Later on social media, police said acquaintances of Williams made references to the Trenton gangs "Up Top" and "801st." Detectives also found an alarming reluctance by those at the party to discuss the shooting, police said at the time.
Detectives requested any personal photos or videos taken by party attendees. Nothing led to an arrest.
"There were approximately 100 guests at the party, mostly all under the age of 18. It is impossible to believe that no one knows anything, " Hamilton Police Capt. Remo DiPaolo said in 2013.
Watters is convinced someone inside that party knows the shooter and saw him open fire on the teens.
"With that amount of people inside that house, absolutely," Watters said. "There's a strong likelihood that juveniles in that house saw what happened. Someone saw the guy with the gun."
And it's not just a homicide a tipster would be solving, Watters said. "Four people were shot, and none of the crimes are solved."
Anyone with information with any unsolved homicide may call the Mercer County Homicide Task Force at (609) 989-6406, the Trenton Police confidential tip line at (609) 989-3663 or the Trenton Crime Stoppers tip line at (609) 278-8477.
Tips may also be sent by text labeled TCSTIPS to Trenton Crime Stoppers at 274637.
This is the first in an occasional series on unsolved killings in Mercer County.
Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.