JERSEY CITY — A Jersey City couple returning from their engagement party Sunday morning were killed near their home on Randolph Avenue. Their murders were eighth and ninth so far this year in Jersey City.
Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said Michael Muchioki, 27 and Nia Haqq, 25, were both shot around 3 a.m. after a trio of carjackers tried to rob the couple’s 2010 Honda CRV, but failed because of the car’s anti-theft device.
DeFazio said each member of the couple was shot twice, including Muchioki suffering a shotgun blast to the back of his head and Haqq having been shot in the back of her head with a pistol.
Both were found lying side by side on the sidewalk in front of their home. DeFazio said the couple were robbed of their personal items, based on the early investigation.
DeFazio also said it is believed the alleged carjackers used a semiautomatic handgun and shotgun, and spent shells from the handgun were recovered at the scene.
The couple was engaged this past December and planned to marry next April.
Anyone with information on the murders is asked to call the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office’s Homicide Squad at (201) 915-1345. – RK