NEWARK’S ANGEL
Killed in city she fought to rid of crime
Shuri Henry loved the city that killed her.
The lifelong Newark activist who vowed to clean up the crime-ravaged community was murdered last week before she ever got the chance.
“This is the very thing that she fought against,” Henry’s close friend Desiree Love, 39, told The Post through tears. “She would say all the time, ‘I love my city.’ She said she wasn’t giving up on her city.”
Henry, 40, was returning to her South 20th Street home Thanksgiving night with her young nephew in tow, when she allegedly en- countered Supreme Allah Jr., 18, and his 14-year-old cohort.
The teens had been patrolling the block for hours, neighbors said.
As Henry made her way inside, Allah and the 14year-old allegedly gunned her down and took off in her 2015 Kia Sorrento, police said.
“Those boys that took her life, she wanted them to be better,” Love said. “She wanted this to stop.”
Henry was set to co-host a community meeting on violence Thursday. Henry’s neighbor, Devon Wright, 55, was home when he heard a loud bang.
“I came out in my long johns and socks, and I see her lying face-down,” Wright told The Post.
Henry’s nephew was unharmed, but the boy’s family fears for his safety, said Henry’s friend, Newark district leader Lyndon Brown.
“People thought it was odd and asked what they were looking for because they weren’t from the block,” said Brown. “We have no idea who these guys are or if they were involved with a gang. His safety is the family’s priority.”
Henry’s mom, also an activist, died two months ago, friends said.
Henry, a Rutgers grad who loved to read and travel, worked on Phil Murphy’s winning gubernatorial campaign. She was pronounced dead at University Hospital, NJ.com reported.
Allah Jr. and the younger teen were caught in Henry’s car after the killing, police said. The two were charged with murder, robbery and carjacking. Another suspect, Antonio Torres, 20, was charged with eluding the police.
“She tried to be a big voice, and if she couldn’t do it in life, [in] death [her voice] will be loud and clear,” Love said. “She will not be silenced. She did not die in vain.”