The 25-year-old man who was fatally shot in Downtown Jersey City early this morning was Darren Talington, also known as "Reesy," of Jersey City, according to his stepfather, Andrew Kemp, 58, of Jersey City.

Talington was shot at around 3:30 a.m. today outside of the A-Plus Deli at 312 Grove Street and after being rushed to the Jersey City Medical Center, was pronounced dead at around 6:30 a.m, according to Kemp.

Kemp declined to provide details about what he heard had happened to his stepson, citing an ongoing police investigation into the shooting.

Hudson County Freeholder Bill O'Dea told The Jersey Journal -- adding that he was not certain of this account -- that Talington came to the defense of a woman who was being harassed by a man in the deli, which then led to an altercation in which Talington was shot.

"He was doing the right thing, and his life was taken away," said Kemp, without disclosing what he knew of the incident.

The Hudson County Prosecutor's Office has not released a narrative regarding the shooting and has not yet disclosed whether a suspect in the shooting has been identified and apprehended.

When describing the type of person Talington was, Kemp said "all he did was smile" and that Talington "never bothered a soul."

"(He was) the nicest person you could meet," he said. "Loving, caring, always with a smile, loved his family, do anything for anybody. There was nothing bad you could say about this young man."

Talington attended Snyder High School in Jersey City and played basketball there before attending Felician College, Kemp said. He was just about to start a new job at a construction company in Jersey City when he was killed, he said.