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| Essex County CO Killed in Newark |
| By pressandguide.com - Joshua Wilwohl |
| Published: 08/01/2011 |
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Debora Ferreira put aside her corrections officer uniform Saturday night in exchange for a red-and-white-flowered dress with red high heels, according to friends. As Ferreira pulled her black BMW from the driveway of her Robert Place home in Irvington around 10 p.m., her neighbor and friend Nikki told her she looked "beautiful" and waved goodbye. That was the last time Nikki, who declined to give her last name, talked with Ferreira. Hours later, she'd receive the news that Ferreira, 32, an Essex County corrections officer and mother of a one-year-old daughter, was found shot to death in downtown Newark. "She said she was going out ... and she looked beautiful," said Nikki, as she held back tears. "She was fun-loving ... and would comfort me in life." Essex County Chief of Detectives Anthony Ambrose said Ferreira was off duty when she was shot in her car near the Maiden Lane and Halsey Street intersection around 2:55 a.m. Sunday. She later died at University Hospital shortly after 3 a.m. As of Sunday night, no arrests have been made. Ambrose said Ferreira had been a block away at a "social club" on William Street before the shooting, but did not elaborate. He said police do not have a motive. Nikki said she didn't know Ferreira's plans Saturday night, "All she said was she was going out ... and she was happy." The social club on William Street appears to be Club Mentors, a Bronze Shields club. Bronze Shields is the African-American police officers' association within the Newark Police Department. Locals on William Street Sunday said the club is the only one on the street and caters to law enforcement officers. Officials have not identified the club. Records show Ferreira had been employed by the Essex County Corrections Department as an officer since July 2007. Anthony Puglisi, a county spokesman, said Ferreira worked at Essex County Correctional Facility on Doremus Avenue in the city. Joe Amato, president of the local union that represents Essex County corrections officers, said the department is in "shock" and is sending counselors to the jail for fellow officers. He said the county employs roughly 540 corrections officers. "She was a very dedicated officer," Amato said. "A good mother. She was the sweetest kid." Amato said Ferreira had been waiting for results of a promotion test to see if she could become a sergeant. Acting Newark Police Director Samuel DeMaio said his department is working with the county's homicide/major crimes task force "to bring closure to this horrific act of violence." Ferreira is the second female corrections officer shot dead in Newark in less than a month. Katrina Owens, 37, was killed July 5 on Columbia Avenue in the city's West Ward. The South Brunswick woman was an officer employed at the New Jersey State Prison in Trenton. Owens' alleged killer and boyfriend, Allen Barron, 21, shot himself hours later at a Greyhound bus station in Virginia. Read More. |
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