A Monmouth County jury convicted Jennifer Sweeney, from Tinton Falls, on charges of first-degree murder, first-degree conspiracy to commit murder, three related weapons offenses, second-degree desecration of human remains, and fourth-degree tampering with physical evidence in connection with the brutal killing of Tyrita Julius.
According to authorities, Sweeney strangled her girlfriend with an electrical cord and buried her body in a shallow grave, months after arranging to have her shot multiple times in a failed bid to kill her out of jealousy.
This real life true crime story all unfolded on November 24, 2015 when officers from the Linden Police Department were called to a home in the 900 block of Middlesex Street in Linden on a report of a shooting.
Responding officers found Julius, 41, who had been shot eight times, sitting in her car, which had crashed into a utility pole not far from her home, reported ABC 7 NY.
The woman’s 15-year-old daughter was seated in the front passenger seat of the car, also having sustained a gunshot wound.
Julius and her daughter were hospitalized and eventually recovered from their injuries.
Source: Tyrita Julius,
Crime Feed
The investigation into the shooting was still active when on March 9, 2016, Julius’ mother reported her missing.
Authorities learned that the night before, Julius had been with a woman, described as a friend from Tinton Falls, but failed to return home.
That friend was later identified as Sweeney, whom Julius had met through a motorcycle club. While Julius was recovering from being shot, Sweeney visited her in the hospital.
Six months after Tyrita Julius was reported missing, her body was discovered buried in a shallow grave at a home on Joline Avenue in Long Branch.
Julius had been strangled with an electrical cord and wrapped in two garbage bags, according to the authorities.
During the course of a multi-agency investigation, detectives determined that Harris was the gunman who shot Julius and her daughter in 2015 and Sweeney set up the hit on her.
Jennifer Sweeney and Andre Harris Charged
Sweeney and Harris were arrested in August 2016 and charged in connection with Julius’ murder and failed attempted murder.
Harris later reached a plea deal with prosecutors in exchange for a 16-year sentence in state prison and agreed to give testimony against Sweeney.
During Sweeney’s murder trial, Harris testified that the defendant was a ‘jealous lover’ who suspected Julius of cheating on her. He also called Sweeney ‘psychotic.’
Harris said Sweeney told him; ‘If I can’t have her, no one can.’
Harris accused Sweeney, whom he knew since high school, of threatening his life and the lives of his children if he did not shoot Julius with the gun she had given him.
Six months after the failed assassination attempt, Harris said Sweeney drove to his house in Long Branch with Julius dead in her Jeep Cherokee, and forced him at gunpoint to help dispose of Julius’ body.
Jennifer Sweeney faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole. She is scheduled to be sentenced on November 19.
