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2005
Media Releases:
CAMDEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE
VINCENT P. SARUBBI, CAMDEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR
MEDIA INFORMATION
March 26, 2005
Camden County Prosecutor Vincent P. Sarubbi and Camden Police Chief
Edwin J. Figueroa announce that a 19-year-old Camden man has been
apprehended and charged with Attempted Murder in the October 2004
shooting that critically injured a 2-year-old girl.
Taleaf J. Gunther, of the 700 block of Ferry Avenue, was arrested
at approximately 11 a.m. today, in the 1700 block of Filmore Street
in Camden and charged with the attempted murder of Yahnajeah Kirkland.
Gunther is being held in the Camden County Correctional Facility in
lieu of $350,000 cash or bond.
It is alleged that on Oct. 28, 2004, Gunther was in the area of 8th
Street and Ferry Avenue in the Centerville section of Camden and fired
a handgun in the direction of an individual he had a dispute with.
It is further alleged that one of the rounds he fired traveled through
the side of a Ford Escape SUV, striking Yahnajeah Kirkland, then 2,
in her head as she sat in the back seat. Yahnajeah, who turned 3 in
December, suffered severe brain injuries and has been hospitalized
ever since. Her condition is listed as critical.
Investigation indicates that the SUV had just turned off Ferry Avenue
and was traveling north on South 8th Street with the victim in the
driver's side rear seat. Shots rang out in the area, and within seconds
the victim's mother, who was a front seat passenger, alerted the driver
that her child had been shot. The driver, also a female, drove directly
to Virtua-West Jersey Hospital. From there, the child was transported
by ambulance to Cooper Trauma Center.
Neither the little girl nor the vehicle is believed to be an intended
target. Nonetheless, under New Jersey law, a person who attempts to
harm or kill someone and mistakenly harms or kills another is liable
to the same degree as if he had struck the intended target. This legal
principle is known as "the rule of transferred intent," Sarubbi explained.
Sarubbi and Figueroa commended the lead detectives in the case, Investigator
Matt Woshnak of the Camden County Prosecutor's Office and Camden Police
Detective Luis F. Ruiz, for their perseverance in developing evidence
that led to the charges filed in this case.
All persons charged with criminal offenses are presumed innocent unless
and until proven guilty in a court of law.
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