Two arrested for weapons soon after Trenton murder

TRENTON » Two men were arrested for weapons offenses Friday, shortly after a man was murdered in a notorious South Trenton neighborhood, and police are probing whether the men are connected to the killing.

“We don’t know if they were involved in the murder, but everything from this past weekend is being looked at,” Lt. Stephen Varn said.

Rakim Williams, 28, was seen emerging from an alley between two vacant houses in the 1100 block of East State Street around 9:24 p.m., about four minutes after law enforcement were dispatched to a homicide on Lamberton Street.

When detectives from the Street Crimes Unit saw Williams, officials say, he reached into his waistband and tossed a handgun wrapped in a black ski mask onto the ground and ran.

Cops ordered him to stop, but Williams fled back between the vacant homes and jumped over a barbwired wall.

Police then set up a parameter, according to officials who say he was eventually apprehended by Detectives Drew Astbury and Harrison Steimle. When police searched Williams, they also found a small amount of marijuana.

Police say the handgun they retrieved was loaded with hollow-point ammunition.

Later, around 10:44 p.m., detectives were patrolling Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard as part of a Violent Crime Interdiction Task Force when they saw a speeding vehicle that matched the description of a car that was possibly used in the murder of 43-year-old Anthony Flowers, who was murdered around 9:20 p.m. in the 500 block of Lamberton Street.

When police conducted a motor vehicle stop, 25-yearold Jaquil Hood was behind the wheel. Officials say detectives saw the butt of a gun in plain view on the floorboard of the vehicle, so they arrested Hood.

Both Williams and Hood have been charged with weapons offenses, but neither of them have been charged in connection with Flowers’ death.

The violent weekend also included the deaths of 40-year-old Shawn Harrell and 51-year-old Tyrone King.