The teenager charged with murder in the killing of a Lincoln High School freshman in Jersey City will be prosecuted as an adult, officials with the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office said.
Willie Shuler, 17, of Jersey City, was waived up to criminal court, officials said. He was previously charged with first-degree counts of murder and attempted murder, and second degree counts of aggravated assault and weapons offenses.
Shuler is accused of killing Cianna Lee, a 15-year-old high school student in Jersey City and shooting one of Lee’s family members in a Jan. 18 incident.
Jersey City police responded to Martin Luther King Boulevard and Union Street around 11 p.m. on Jan. 18 for a report of two people shot in a car on Oak Street, officials said.
Lee and a 37-year-old family member were located at the scene suffering from gunshot wounds, officials said. They were taken to Jersey City Medical Center where Lee was declared dead at 1:20 a.m. the next day. The family member was treated for a non-fatal gunshot wound, officials said.
Shuler, who was 16-years-old at the time of the shooting, was arrested on Jan. 23 and initially charged as a juvenile, according to officials.
At the time of his arrest, it was unclear if Shuler knew Lee and her family member.
Described as “vibrant and loving,” Lee was born in Jamaica and moved to the United States less than a year ago to be with her father and pursue greater opportunities.
It was not immediately clear if Shuler had an attorney Monday afternoon.
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