Queen Julius vividly remembers the devastating night that changed everything for her family.
“My sister called me in a panic, shouting, ‘You have to get to the hospital, Tyrita was shot,'” Queen recounted on the April 19 episode of Oxygen’s Snapped. “I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to harm my daughter.”
What Happened to Tyrita Julius?
The harrowing incident took place in November 2015, when Tyrita and her 15-year-old daughter, Chanel Colbert, were sitting in a car outside their home in Linden, New Jersey. A man approached them and started shooting, hitting Tyrita eight times in the chest and torso, while a bullet grazed Chanel’s mouth and wrist.
“I went into shock,” Chanel shared with Snapped. “I remember us trying to shield ourselves. I didn’t realize I was hurt until I reached for the phone to call 911. My only concern was for my mom.”
Despite the brutal attack, both mother and daughter were rushed to the hospital and, against all odds, survived the ordeal.
Why Were Tyrita Julius and Chanel Colbert Targeted?
One lead came from surveillance footage which showed a heavy-set male walking down the street before the shooting, then running back to a silver SUV.
Another came from those who knew Tyrita best.
She had joined the Ruff Ryders Motorcycle Club, a social riding group, and had dated a fellow member Jennifer Sweeney. Although they were broken up at the time of the shooting, it was a detail that detectives couldn’t ignore, especially as friends described her as jealous and controlling.
Who is Jennifer Sweeney?
“She was generally described as even keeled,” defense attorney Ted Bertuccio told Snapped. “She’s not a person who speaks too much.”
After the shooting, Jennifer told police she hadn’t spoken to Tyrita in days but that they did have plans to meet up the night of the incident.
However, since the shooter was male, investigators ruled out Jennifer as a suspect. And, Tyrita—from her hospital bed—insisted that her ex was not behind the crime.
While Jennifer doted on Tyrita during recovery, Tyrita saw the TLC as platonic. Jennifer, however, had other ideas.
“Jennifer was showing people pictures of engagement rings that she was getting for her,” assistant prosecutor Caitlin Sidley recalled. “Without Tyrita’s input, Jennifer decided that they were back together.”
Three months later, Tyrita was discharged from the hospital—then suddenly disappeared.
What Was Said About Tyrita Julius Vanishing?
Police questioned Jennifer, who insisted she had dropped Tyrita off at the train station then went to visit her friend Donna, waiting at her home for about an hour for Donna to arrive.
“Jennifer ended up awkwardly sitting with Donna’s husband for a good amount of time,” said Sidley, “before then leaving.”
It appeared that Jennifer was killing time to create an alibi—and surveillance footage from the Long Branch train station validated just that: Neither Jennifer nor Tyrita were there that night.
Prosecutors then learned that Jennifer had combined her and Tyrita’s mobile plans, giving her access to Tyrita’s communication history and allowing her to stalk Tyrita’s every move. And when Jennifer saw that Tyrita was in contact with another man, police alleged that she grew furious.
GPS data also pointed to Jennifer being in Linden on the night of the shooting, along with a man named Andre Harris.
Who Is Andre Harris?
Police identified Andre as a friend of Jennifer’s from high school. He drove a silver SUV—like the one witnessed at the shooting scene—and had an outstanding warrant for his arrest.
When they took Andre into custody, he denied knowing Tyrita or being in Linden the night she was shot. When investigators searched his home, however, they discovered human remains in the yard.
When confronted, Andre confessed that it was Tyrita’s body buried on his property.
Andre admitted to shooting Tyrita nine months earlier—but he blamed Jennifer for the hit.
On the night Tyrita was killed, Jennifer showed up on his doorstep with car troubles, Harris said, noting she asked to borrow a cord to fix her trunk.
When Andre went outside to check on Jennifer, he found Tyrita in the front seat with the electrical cord around her neck.
That’s when Jennifer pointed a gun at Andre and demanded that he dig Tyrita’s grave. Investigators later found Tyrita stuffed inside two trash bags, with the cord still wrapped around her neck.
“Jen’s intention was to propose to Tyrita,” retired Linden Police Detective Sergeant Kenneth Mikolajczyk recalled. “She also wanted Tyrita to move in with her, but Tyrita wasn’t quite ready for this yet, because she wasn’t healthy.”
Jennifer and Andre were both charged with murder and desecration of human remains. Andre accepted a plea deal in exchange for testifying against Jennifer, who he claimed had been threatening him and his family. Andre was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
A jury convicted Jennifer on all counts, except the attempted murder of Chanel Colbert.
In May 2022, Jennifer was sentenced to 95 years in prison. She will not be eligible for parole until she is more than 100 years old.
