Ewing and Trenton Residents are Two Individuals Charged in Chase Street Homicide

December 16, 2020

TRENTON, NJ (MERCER)–Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo J. Onofri announced today that an investigation conducted by the Mercer County Homicide Task Force has resulted in charges being filed against a man and a woman in the December 8 homicide of Joel Alexander.

Nasir White, 24, of Ewing, is charged with one count of first-degree murder, one count of first-degree felony murder, one count of first-degree robbery, weapons offenses, hindering apprehension and tampering with evidence. Monet Maiden, 22, of Trenton, is charged with hindering apprehension and tampering with evidence. Complaints were signed on Tuesday charging both White and Maiden, who were already in custody on unrelated charges out of Lawrence Township. Motions to detain both pending trial have been filed by the prosecutor’s office.

At approximately 3:30 p.m. on December 8, 2020, Trenton police received a 911 call for a report of a male who was dumped out of a vehicle and shot on Chase Street. Responding officers located an unresponsive male, later identified as 43-year-old Alexander, in the street with a gunshot wound to the head. He was transported to the hospital where he was pronounced dead a short time later.

During the course of the investigation, task force detectives collected and reviewed video surveillance footage from the surrounding area, and located and interviewed several witnesses. They were able to identify a gold Honda Accord with tinted windows, distinct aftermarket rims, and an unknown New Jersey registration as the vehicle involved in the incident.

The investigation revealed that a gold Honda Accord drove onto Chase Street from Brunswick Avenue and stopped in the middle of the street. An unknown black male, exited the front driver seat of the vehicle, walked to the rear driver side seat and shot the victim Joel Alexander. The unknown black male was later identified as Nasir White and Monet Maiden was identified in the gold Honda Accord at the time of the murder. Nasir White then dragged the victim out of the car, place him in the middle of the street, and then reentered the gold Honda Accord and fled the area with Maiden. A bulletin with a photograph of the vehicle captured from surveillance video was sent out to surrounding municipalities on December 10.

At approximately 8:30 p.m. on December 13, Lawrence police located a matte black Honda Accord at the Wawa on Brunswick Pike in an unrelated criminal investigation. During that investigation Nasir White, Monet Maiden and Anesha Joynes were arrested for possession of two handguns and drug offenses. Further investigation revealed that the Honda Accord appeared to be spray painted black and ultimately determined to be the gold Honda Accord used in the murder of Joel Alexander. The investigation revealed the Honda Accord as belonging to Monet Maiden and, in the days following the murder, White and Maiden purchased black spray paint to repaint the gold Honda Accord black. White also attempted to clean the interior of the Honda Accord. A search warrant was obtained and a search of the Honda Accord revealed an obvious bloodstain on the backseat of the Honda Accord along with upholstery cleaner.

Despite having been charged, every defendant is presumed innocent until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.