A 28-year-old Trenton man is facing a sentence of 30 years to life in prison for murder and 10 to 20 years for attempted murder after he was convicted of killing a Trenton teenager and wounding a woman in March 2022, according to the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office.
Quashawn Hightower was convicted on Nov. 5 of one count each of murder, attempted murder, unlawful possession of a handgun and receiving stolen property and three counts of aggravated assault, following a five-week-long trial in Mercer County Superior Court.
Hightower will be sentenced on Jan. 8, 2027.
Trenton police were alerted by a Shot Spotter activation for 12 rounds fire in the area of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Race Street shortly after 3:30 p.m. on March 1, 2022. Police officers responded and found a vehicle that had crashed into the side of 953 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, which was occupied by Life in the Word Outreach Ministry. The vehicle had numerous bullet holes in it.
Police found 19-year-old Shimon Nesmith Jr. suffering from gunshot wounds and a 21-year-old woman who sustained gunshot wounds to the face and both legs.
Nesmith was taken by ambulance to Capital Health Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead a short time later. The woman was transported to the hospital by private vehicle.
The Mercer County Homicide Task Force and the Trenton Police Department determined that after the shooting, Hightower got into a Toyota Corolla. Detectives tracked the car, which was equipped with active GPS tracking, to northeast Pennsylvania on March 2, 2022.
Local Pennsylvania police stopped the Toyota Corolla and found Hightower in the front seat. His girlfriend and co-defendant, Desire Knighton, was in the driver’s seat.
A search warrant for the vehicle was executed by Pennsylvania police, who found the gun used in the shooting stashed in the trunk of the car in the spare tire area.
