An Atlantic City woman accused of endangering a witness in two gang-related shootings was ordered to stay jailed this week.
Aaliyah Ingrum, 22, allegedly posted on Facebook where the witness was living, after the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office had relocated the unnamed woman for her protection.
The victim in the case is a witness to a murder and attempted murder that are both gang-related, according to the affidavit of probable cause.
Ingrum allegedly wrote in messages to the victim that she was on her way to the victim's home with the opposing gang members.
BreakingAC is not reporting which gang is alleged to have perpetrated the shootings, or any details about the incident with Ingrum or how the two know each other in an attempt to further protect the woman's identity.
"B----, I can't wait until they catch you," Ingrum allegedly wrote. "I'm telling everyone where you be in the city."
Defense attorney Durann Neil insisted that his client was not a threat to the woman, and instead it was an argument in text that escalated.
But the judge did not agree with that assessment.
"The most serious thing here is that this defendant apparently put out information about a person who had to be relocated because she’s a witness in another case," Judge Patricia Wild said. "Frankly, if that’s not witness tampering, I don’t know what is."
Ingrum was animated during much of the hearing, appearing to yell at some point as she appeared via video from the jail. Her mic was muted and she was wearing a mask, so it was impossible to tell what she was saying.
The hearing also gave some insight into how ingrained gang affiliations are in the city's violence.
In the last four months, 10 shootings have been connected to gangs, including one fatal, D'Esposito told the judge. He said there have been about 85 shootings or killings that were gang-related since they have been tracked, but he did not give a time frame.
"This case is extraordinary because of the gang backdrop," he told Wild. "It’s not common for a witness to cooperate with law enforcement, especially about the gang-related aspects of Atlantic City. It cannot be understated how significant it is that this young woman agreed to cooperate with authorities."
Ingrum already faced a charge of assault on the victim from last year. Neil said that the two had filed charges against one another.
In January, Ingrum was accused of attacking the victim's mother with a frying pan. In texts between Ingrum, the victim and the victim's mother, the defendant allegedly threatened to have the victim's house shot up and her whole family killed.
The victim already was a target in a previous shooting.
"This is a young woman, your honor — the victim witness — who, literally, every time she walks out of her house she has to look around and wonder if she’s going to be shot and killed," D'Esposito said.
Neil argued that his client has no criminal history, and that there could be conditions that would allow her to be released without being a danger so she could go home to her child.
That would include no contact with the victim and a ban from social media, he said.
"You really think she's going to abide by a no-contact order?" Wild asked.
The judge then said the damage was already done.
"(The victim) is in danger from what your client already did," she told Neil. "She put her location on social media, which can’t be erased."
It also proved no conditions could protect the victim from Ingrum, D'Esposito said.
"She can and will and has shown she’s able to tamper with the witness even from the confines of her home or her bedroom simply through an electronic device," he said.
The judge ordered Ingrum held. She will now stay in the Atlantic County Justice Facility as the case goes through court.
