Basketball coach remembers star player shot and killed in East Orange

Letrell Duncan was a standout basketball player who was described as the rock of the youth basketball program that he was a part of at Garden State Bounce.

News 12 Staff

Oct 4, 2022, 11:12 AM

Updated 737 days ago

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A basketball coach shared memories of the 16-year-old boy who was shot and killed in East Orange Monday just a block away from an elementary and middle school.
Police say the shooting happened around 3 p.m. on Lincoln Street just as kids were being dismissed for the day. Police say 16-year-old Letrell Duncan was shot four times by a suspect who took off. Duncan was rushed to the hospital but didn't survive.
Duncan was a standout basketball player who was described as the rock of the youth basketball program that he was a part of at Garden State Bounce.
"He was our little brother, a friend and we're going to miss him deeply," says Tunde Adedoyin, a coach at Garden State Bounce.
Naima Hall, of East Orange, says her daughter was a classmate and friend of Duncan. Hall says the incident has made her consider homeschooling her younger son who is in elementary school.
Adedoyin says the community will figure out a way to honor Duncan. There is a GoFundMe page to help his family with funeral arrangements.
Essex County prosecutors are leading the investigation and are still looking for the suspect.
No one else was injured.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office tips line at 1-877-TIPS-4EC or 1-877-847-7432.