The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Chief Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE girlfriend of a 23-year-old man shot and killed just feet from his Elizabeth home recalled ducking for cover as bullets rang out, only to discover moments later that she had been hit and her boyfriend fatally wounded.

The woman, who asked for her name to be withheld, said she now suffers nightmares and fears she may never be able to recover from the terrifying ordeal.

“I don't think I could go in another relationship for as long as I live. I can't take that,” she told The Tribune yesterday. “I don’t want to get attached to anybody anymore because that was my safe place.”

Her comments came three days after her boyfriend of five years, Aljaron Stubbs, was murdered. 

Police were alerted to the double shooting shortly before 3pm Thursday near Antigua Street and Barbados Avenue.

Stubbs, who was out on bail for murder and murder conspiracy charges, had just left court that day when he and his girlfriend were heading home. She was on her lunch break at the time.

They spotted a car parked near their yard — the same vehicle seen earlier that morning — and decided to turn into a neighbour’s yard instead.

As they attempted to leave, gunmen in a light-coloured Japanese vehicle pulled into the area and opened fire.

Stubbs’ girlfriend said she immediately ducked for cover and began praying.

“By the time as I get up and ask him ‘baby, you okay?’ That was it. He was then gone,” she said, not even realising that she had been grazed in the back.

The grieving woman said she struggles to sleep, often waking up in tears, and that she sometimes thinks about the attack during the day.

She has decided to take a break from work to cope with the trauma.

“In the morning, when it first happened, I felt like I was going crazy,” she said.

“I know everybody gotta go one day, but it’s how you go. That’s the part that hurt me. If he had gone to bed and didn't wake up, I would have felt better,” she said.

Stubbs’ relatives are also struggling to come to terms with his death. Family members were inconsolable at the scene and had to be held back by police.

She admitted her boyfriend was no saint but said he had changed his life for the better.

“Even though he was trying to change, the police was still on him,” she said. “Every other week, coming to lock him up and bothering him. Ain’t nobody’s perfect. Everybody’s innocent until proven guilty.”

Tribune records show that Stubbs was charged in 2023 with conspiracy to murder Detective Sergeant Raphael Miller and with the murder of Jorge Cuevas. He was also awaiting trial on attempted murder and firearm-related charges.

He had denied the allegations.

In the weeks before his death, Stubbs, who was unemployed, often spoke about opening a car wash business the next month and buying three bikes to rent out.

The couple was also planning to celebrate their sixth anniversary in October with a photo shoot and other activities.

The grieving woman said she is leaving her boyfriends’ attackers to God, saying every “dog got their day.”

She said she will deeply miss Stubbs, describing him as easygoing.

“Every now and then, like looking at our pictures and stuff like that, I try not to look at it, because it just made me break down and cry but, it's really ain’t easy,” she said.

Police have not announced any arrests in connection with Stubbs’ murder.

His death brings the country's murder count to 27 for the year, according to The Tribune's records.