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Investigators at the scene of a double homicide at South 10th Street and 15th Avenue in Newark this afternoon.

(Richard Khavkine/The Star-Ledger)

NEWARK— Essex County law enforcement officials have identified the man and woman shot and killed yesterday afternoon in Newark's West Ward as Damien Matteaux, 23, of Newark and NaQuese McCollum, 16, of Irvington.

The pair were cousins and it appears Matteaux was the target of the shooting, said Anthony Ambrose, the chief of detectives with the Essex County Prosecutor's Office.

Matteaux and McCollum were traveling to Union yesterday afternoon to pick up Matteaux's girlfriend from work when their vehicle was struck by a spray of bullets near the intersection of South 10th Street and 15th Avenue.

The investigation into the double shooting is ongoing, Ambrose said. No arrests have been made.

The killings are Newark’s 63rd and 64th this year and follow a spasm of bloodshed that saw 10 people killed in a 10-day period ending last week.

At 15th Avenue and 9th Street last night, several people gathered, including the mother of the teenage girl who had been shot, according to several community activists.

In between loud, long sobs, the woman railed against the continuing violence.

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