Inset left: Andre Higgs (Essex County Prosecutor”s Office). Inset right: Latrena May (Obituary). Background: The street where Higgs shot and killed May in East Orange, N.J. (Google Maps).
A New Jersey man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the fatal shooting of his former girlfriend, an incident that unfolded while she was seeking help from a police officer right outside her home.
Andre Higgs, 53, was found guilty by an Essex County jury in December 2025 for the murder of 27-year-old Latrena May, a dedicated teacher at Pride Academy Charter School in East Orange. The two had previously been in a relationship.
On Friday, Higgs received a life sentence for the murder, which translates to 75 years under New Jersey law. Additionally, he was handed a 20-year sentence for related weapons offenses.
The tragic event occurred on the night of May 1, 2015, after an argument erupted between Higgs and May outside her Tremont Avenue residence in East Orange, a suburb of New York City.
May’s untimely death highlights the dire consequences of domestic violence and uncontrolled anger.
According to a press release from the prosecutors, “The shooting took place after May fled her home to escape an assault by Higgs and signaled for assistance from a passing police vehicle.” As Detective Kemon Lee of East Orange approached the scene, Higgs fired multiple shots at May.
The detective returned fire and hit the killer in the legs. Then, Higgs retreated back into May’s house where the victim’s 4-year-old daughter was still asleep. After barricading himself inside the residence, he was eventually arrested.
Higgs was originally sentenced to life in prison in 2017 following a trial and conviction for May’s murder. But that sentence was overturned by the New Jersey Supreme Court in 2023, which granted him a new trial.
In the ruling, the justices found that defense attorneys should have been granted access to Lee’s “internal affairs file, which included prior incidents of the officer firing his weapon while on duty” and should have been able to question the detective about those prior incidents.
But a second trial did not result in a materially different outcome.
Higgs was found guilty of murder in the first degree, second-degree unlawful possession of a handgun, first-degree unlawful possession of a handgun by a person who has previously been convicted of a crime under the No Early Release Act, and second-degree certain persons not to have weapons.
“This second conviction for murder for Andre Higgs was possible only because of the brave witnesses who once again came forward to testify about the defendant’s callous actions,” prosecutor Justin Edwab said. “As we said in 2017 and repeat today, Detective Kemon Lee was a hero that day for responding to Latrena May and attempting to save her from the grip of her abuser.”
Under a recently passed New Jersey law, Higgs must serve 85 percent of his sentence before he is eligible for release – which equates to just shy of 64 years on the murder conviction alone.
“While no sentence can bring back Latrena May, we hope that knowing Higgs will spend the rest of his life in prison provides the May family with some measure of peace and serves as a solemn acknowledgment of their profound loss,” Edwab added in comments to NJ.com.
