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The 28-year-old woman who was killed at her Jackson apartment complex Saturday morning was Toraya Reid, the sister of Minnesota Timberwolves star Naz Reid.
Toraya Reid was found about 11 a.m. Saturday, after Jackson police received a 911 call about shots fired and an unresponsive woman in the roadway at the Paragon Apartment Complex on Larsen Road.
In a 2023 interview with Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Naz Reid remembered his sisters Toraya and Jakahya, calling his older sister Toraya “super protective.”
“She treats us like she’s our parent,” he said.
Shaquille Green, who authorities said was dating Toraya Reid, was charged with her murder after officers saw him running on North New Prospect Road, according to Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer.
Green, 29, was charged with possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and unlawful possession of a weapon in addition to murder.
In Facebook posts, Reid’s younger sister Jakahya Smith called Green a coward and asked for privacy.
“We always send our condolences and say we could never imagine ourselves in that situation … and yet here I am. Facing the unimaginable. Without you by my side,” she wrote. “I just talked to you last night bro we was ki’ing bout this n—– not even knowing what was waiting on you the very next morning.
“I’ll never get over this I’ll never forgive god for taking you away from me, idk what kind of sick plan that man above has but I know losing you couldn’t have been apart of it. I can’t even phantom putting your name and death in the same sentence. This s— real so surreal.
“The whole way home I was just hoping and praying it was some kind of sick joke that you would call me and tell me it wasn’t true. I’m disgusted. I’m hurt. But most of all I’m angry. I will never be okay.”
She wants her sister to be remembered for the person that she was, not just the sibling of an NBA star.
“My sister has a name,” Jakahya Smith said. “She is not just some girl, She’s not just the NBA super star sister. She has a name and that is Toraya Reid. Respect her … or don’t mention her at all.”
Naz Reid had recently returned to the Jersey Shore to host a two-day basketball camp over Labor Day weekend for talented local athletes. The Hoop Group sports complex in Neptune, which hosted the camp, was where Reid used to practice.
Since joining the NBA in 2019, Reid has returned to Asbury Park and Neptune multiple times, saying he wants to give back to the community.
“It was important to me to come here and explain to the kids that I didn’t have the easiest path, and show them that anybody can make anything out of whatever situation they come from,” Reid said during a basketball camp in 2023. “That has been my biggest message to them.”
Funeral arrangements have not been released.
Olivia Liu is a reporter covering transportation, Red Bank and western Monmouth County. She can be reached at oliu@gannett.com.