From BlackVoices.com:
On April 3, Nia Haqq and Michael Muchioki were returning from their engagement party. That night, they were robbed and murdered, with each of them being shot twice in the head. Samuel Jefferson, the Police Director of Jersey City, NJ, told Essence.com:
“We found them. Right now we have four arrests. We have the weapon and we have the evidence. And we possibly have someone admitting to the crime, that they were there. Right now, we have one man and two females.
“This was a random act of crime and opportunity. Unfortunately, the devil was on their side for that brief moment. Hopefully now the families can rest and the residents of Jersey City will know these people are off the streets and we recovered the weapon. This department that I am the head of, the Police Chief, the men and women in blue, they felt their heart rip on this case. It was more than just a job. We feel very good that we were able to solve this right now.”The suspects took Haqq’s engagement ring, and Muchioki’s wallet. They also took their cell phones and gift cards from the engagement party.
Updated 04/05/10, 11:45 a.m., Couple Is Killed In Carjacking After Engagement Party
From NJ.com:
JERSEY CITY — Just hours after friends joyfully toasted them at their engagement party, a couple lay dead on a Jersey City street this morning, shot during what police said was a possible carjacking.
College sweethearts Michael Muchioki, 27, and Nia Haqq, 25, had planned to marry next April, those close to them said. On Saturday evening, the couple celebrated their engagement with friends and family at Delta’s, a soul food restaurant in New Brunswick, and then at a larger gathering at Perle, a club and lounge also in the Middlesex County city.
Afterward, a friend said, they begged off going to a diner, opting to return to Muchioki’s Jersey City apartment in Haqq’s Honda CRV. Police said the couple were shot around 3 a.m., a few doors from Muchioki’s home.
Today, as the news spread, their loved ones, shocked and devastated, arrived at Muchioki’s Randolph Avenue home. Many stood outside crying and hugging one another.
Haqq, who has ties to the Trenton area, graduated from the College of New Jersey. She was an associate producer for an affiliate of Nickelodeon in New York, several friends said. Her family could not be reached yesterday.
The couple had met through Greek life at their colleges, and their fraternity brothers and sorority sisters had a strong presence at the celebrations Saturday night and at Muchioki’s home today. Muchioki was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, and Haqq of Alpha Kappa Alpha.
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