On Thursday, March 30, a rally will be held outside of the Essex County Veterans Courthouse at 50 West Market Street in Newark at 3:30 p.m. The rally is by the family of Haleem Youngblood, who are still seeking answers after his death.
The death of Haleem Youngblood on Jan. 18 was not only the first homicide death of 2023 in Irvington, but there were some unusual circumstances.
According to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, Irvington police officers responded to an alleged stabbing report from an address along the 100 block of Tichenor Terrace at 2:03 a.m. that morning. They found 35-year-old Youngblood, lying on the kitchen floor with “an apparent stab wound.” Youngblood was “pronounced dead at the scene at 3:06 a.m.,” 63 minutes later.
An hour and three minutes from being found and being declared dead is an unusually long period of time.
According to Local Talk’s original article in the Jan. 26 edition, ECPO Public Information Office spokesman, Robert Florida, provided “Local Talk” with a partial answer on why the comparatively 63 minute long lead time, Jan. 25.
“Sometimes the Regional Medical Examiner pronounces a person as dead at the scene,” said Florida. “More often, the examiner makes a death pronunciation electronically or remotely.”
The N.J. Regional Medical Examiner, who also conducts autopsies around the “Local Talk” area, is based in Newark.
Municipal police and other law enforcers call the ECPO when an incident or accident causes serious injury or death as soon as they determine the need. The county’s fire investigators are also called to a scene of a serious blaze as a standard operating procedure.
The 63-minute time leaves open whether there was a delay in an EMS technician or rescue squad or ambulance unit’s arrival.
Some EMS listening to a 911 report or a dispatcher’s call, promptly heads to the scene. Some squads are integral with the fire department or as a special police unit; others may be volunteer or contracted private vendors.
The particular incident that led to Youngblood’s death may have been complicated in its being categorized as one of domestic violence.
One published report had “another woman at the scene told authorities that an argument broke out over a board game (and) escalated into a fight over a hole in the wall.”
Here is where the situation gets even more complicated. According to Haleem’s mother, Debra Youngblood, the person arrested for the crime is Essence Williams, who is 22/23 years of age.
Also, according to Debra, in about a month, Williams was detained for six days, only to be released and the case closed after a quickly assembled grand jury was convened to oversee the case, and found no fault.
The case has gained traction in the community, with some wondering if the accused in question is related to or associated with a high powered individual, such as an officer, politician, or lawyer.
