PATERSON — A shooting left a 14-year-old girl dead and another 15-year-old wounded, law enforcement officials said.
Neighbors said Nazerah Bugg was leaving Mom’s Fried Chicken on the corner of Clinton and N. Main streets just before midnight when shots rang out.
Bugg was “like a little sister” to Melaysia Mayo, 15, who was part of a group of girls who were with Bugg at the time of the shooting.
“As soon as we turned to leave somebody just started shooting,” Mayo said.
Mayo said she saw a van and started running. The shooting left Bugg dead and a 15-year-old in the hospital.
Bugg was an avid basketball player. She played guard at Kennedy High School and for Ladies Play Too, an AAU team, said Derek Braxton, one of her coaches.
Braxton believed she had the potential to play professionally.
“Always smiling, always calm,” he said of Bugg. “She really wasn’t a troubled kid.”
Neighbors set up a makeshift memorial for Bugg at the place she was killed. Passersby showed up throughout Sunday to sign a white sheet. At its foot, they placed candles, basketballs and other trinkets.
The neighborhood sees violence frequently, Tanika Reed, a local mother, said.
“All of the kids that drug deal and hustle, this is where it happens,” she said.
Hundreds of people rallied in the city in July, calling for an end to violence after a 12-year-old girl was shot in the head while riding a scooter.
By 1st Ward Councilman Anthony Davis’ count, there have been six homicides since 12-year-old Genesis Rincon was killed in July. He carries a red folder with a sheet listing the names of every homicide victim in Paterson.
He now has another name to add.
“I can’t say let’s do a protest or march,” Davis said. “That goes on and on and still the next weekend somebody gets shot or killed. We’ve got to come up with some resolution.”
Myles Ma may be reached at mma@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MylesMaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Erin O'Neill of NJ Advance Media contributed to this report.