Left inset: Sequoya Bacon-Jones (WTXF/YouTube). Right inset: Isiah Roberts (Mercer County Correction Center). Background: A bench in the New Jersey courtyard where 9-year-old Sequoya Bacon-Jones was gunned down and killed by Isiah Roberts (WTXF/YouTube).
A tragic incident unfolded in New Jersey when a man confessed to fatally shooting a 9-year-old girl who was playing outdoors with her brother and friends. The young girl was killed in front of her mother after the man targeted a “family nemesis” in an apartment courtyard.
The heartbreaking event was reportedly linked to a “pointless” dispute on Facebook, as stated by the victim’s family and the perpetrator’s legal representative.
Isiah M. Roberts, then 19, recently pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter in the case of Sequoya Bacon-Jones. Sequoya, a fourth-grader from Trenton, attempted to find safety when Roberts began shooting in the courtyard where she and others were gathered.
In court last Thursday, Roberts’ lawyer, John W. Hartmann, detailed the circumstances leading to the shooting, explaining it was ignited by an online argument that escalated to violence, according to a report by NJ.com.
Hartmann recounted how Roberts, now 23, was urged by his mother and sister to head to Kingsbury apartments, where Sequoya was playing, following a physical altercation involving his sister that was rooted in the Facebook conflict. Once there, Roberts was told about a “family nemesis,” the intended target according to police.
Armed with a 9 mm pistol retrieved from an apartment, Roberts spotted the “family nemesis” outside, suspecting they also carried a weapon. He then opened fire, tragically hitting Sequoya as she attempted to flee with her brother. Their mother, along with nearby residents, tried to assist her until authorities arrived on the scene.
“He shot off two rounds first, everybody scattered, and then he shot off another four rounds and my daughter got hit,” said Sequoya’s mother, Sacha Bacon-Jones, in a 2022 interview with Philadelphia CBS affiliate KYW.
“I run up and my baby is laying on the ground covered in blood,” Bacon-Jones recounted, describing Sequoya as her “little girl,” per KYW. “She’s not crying at all, she’s just like moaning and she’s reaching for me and I’m like I can’t believe what I’m looking at. It’s not really happening, but it’s really happening.”
Hartmann said Thursday that Roberts did not intend to harm Sequoya, NJ.com reports. He said his client, however, did show a reckless disregard for human life that warranted the manslaughter charge.
Bacon-Jones described the beef that sparked the shooting as “stupid Facebook stuff” while speaking to reporters at a press conference after her daughter’s death.
“Now all I have are memories I can’t make anymore,” Bacon-Jones said.
As part of his plea deal, Roberts will spend between 15 and 18 years in prison, according to NJ.com. He is scheduled to be sentenced in June.
