Widow pleas for pastor's killer to turn self in

NEWARK, N.J.

One week after his murder police still have not found his killer.

The family of the slain pastor and the family of clergy in the community are coming together with a clear message to the killer: turn yourself into police.

"Let's not be silent. Let's speak up. Cause somebody knows what happened," said Michele Ruffin-Hughes, victim's wife.

It was a tearful plea.

It's a call to do the right thing from the widow of Pastor Donald Hughes.

Surrounded by dozens of ministers, just like her husband, Ruffin-Hughes joins what is now a collective voice.

"I don't want this to go down silently because every day there is a senseless murder and there is no need for it," Ruffin-Hughes said.

Pastor Hughes, a kind and gentle man by accounts, was shot and killed outside his home on Good Friday as he unloaded groceries.

One of his children watched in horror.

"There has been a reward of over $10,000 for the person or persons responsible, who murdered this father with seven children in front of his family," said Bishop Jethro James, a pastor.

"What we are saying is, what happened to the Hughes family, happened to all of us," said Apostle Willie Tolbert, senior pastor.

So they now are praying for a miracle, for someone to step forward with information, or better yet for the gunman to step out of the shadows.

"They can come in, they can surrender themselves to one of the pastors and we will walk that person down," Tolbert said.

While they have lost a beloved pastor, they do not want to lose anyone else to this senseless violence.

"I don't want my husband's name to go down in vain," Ruffin-Hughes said.

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