So proud to share that I and my colleagues at The Jersey Journal newspaper have been honored with 16 state awards in the 2014 Better Newspapers Contest sponsored by the New Jersey Press Association, including a First Place win in the News Picture Story category for my photo coverage (below) of the funeral for Darren Maurice ‘Reese’ Talington, 25, who was shot dead outside a Jersey City, N.J., deli on April 26, 2014, when he came to the aid of a woman. Click on the photo to view all the winners.

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JERSEY CITY, N.J., MAY, 2, 2014 — Hundreds attended the wake and funeral at the Metropolitan A.M.E. Zion Church for Darren Maurice ‘Reese’ Talington, 25, who was shot dead outside a deli on April 26 when he came to the aid of a woman. His parents were presented with a firefighter’s helmet by Jersey City firemen. At the time of his death, Talington had just passed the written and physical exams necessary to become a Jersey City firefighter. He frequented the city’s fire houses with his brother, also a firefighter. Friends wore plastic crowns in honor of the man they lovingly referred to as ‘The King.’ He was buried at Bayview Cemetery.
by Reena