Updated: Homicide on Jacoby Street

Updated: September 17, 2010.

On Sunday morning, September 11, 2010, Victoria Carmen White, 28, of Newark was fatally shot at a relative's apartment at 159 Jacoby Street in Maplewood.

White was originally identifed by police as James White, 29. On Monday, September 12, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office released a statement reporting that the victim's legal name is Victoria Carmen White. Following an examination by the Medical Examiner and further investigation, it was confirmed that the victim was a post-operative transgender female having undergone sex reassignment surgery. The victim's birth certificate was legally changed to identify her as Victoria Carmen White.

When asked why and how the victim was originally mis-identified, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office responded that this issue is related to the ongoing investigation and could not be answered at this time.

Maplewood Police and the Essex County Prosecutor's Office say they are investigating the death as a homicide.

On Sunday, Patch spoke to a man outside the building, who declined to give his name. He said he lived about a block away from the incident and had heard about the shooting from a friend. The friend reported that someone ran out of the building around 5 a.m. and banged on her door, telling her about the shooting. "That's the first time anything like this has happened in this building," the man said, adding that the apartment building was not known for being noisy or boisterous.

Friends and family have told the media that White went to the 43rd Street Cafe in Irvington with a cousin and that White and the cousin returned to the Jacoby Street apartment with two men. The Essex County Prosecutor's Office again would not comment on this information, stating, "All of these are issues relating to the ongoing investigation."

Although a resident of Newark directly before her death, White grew up in South Orange where she attended South Orange Middle School and later Columbia High School in Maplewood.