The victim was transported to UMDNJ, where he was pronounced dead.
"He was a sweetheart, real quiet," one neighbor said. "He didn't live around here that long. He came from a good family, his mother was one of the ones that makes you be in the house at a certain time. He didn't bother nobody."
Many who knew the 15-year-old are upset and wondering why the tragedy took place.
"I feel hurt, I want to cry but it won't come out," said one friend.
Police believe at least one round from an assault rifle penetrated the ceiling of an apartment below, traveling through the floor of the upper apartment and fatally striking Washington in the head while he was sleeping.
The alleged shooter, identified as 19-year-old Terrance Perry surrendered to police without incident and lead detectives to his girlfriend's vehicle parked nearby where he stashed the weapon in question. Perry has no criminal record.
A relative says Perry, a high school graduate with a job, had the gun because he had recently been robbed outside of his home.
Perry is facing up to 30 years in prison and has been charged with aggravated manslaughter, possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.
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STORY BY: Eyewitness News reporter Anthony Johnson
WEB PRODUCED BY: Scott Curkin and Bill King
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