The woman killed in Saturday’s mass shooting at a New Jersey house party was a “hardworking” healthcare staffer who came to the US from Jamaica, according to her grieving family and social media.
Asia Hester, 25, was shot dead along with 30-year-old Kevin Elliott at a birthday barbecue in southern Fairfield Township, Cumberland County — violence that may have stemmed from a long-simmering local turf war, guests told The Post.
As mourners packed Hester’s family home less than a mile from the shooting scene Sunday, her weeping sister, Crystal, told The Post, “I talked to her yesterday before she went [to the party].
“She didn’t deserve this,’’ the shattered sibling said.
A male relative decried the senseless bloodshed.
“She was a hardworking person. She was a good person, very respectable,” he said of Hester.
Asia Hester was remembered fondly by friends and family after he tragic death at a New Jersey house party. Facebook“It’s just a tragic situation. Something’s got to be done.”
The dead woman’s family said she graduated from Rowan College in south Jersey and worked in healthcare. Her Facebook page listed her employer as Jefferson Health.
She was originally from Kingston, Jamaica, according to her page.
Childhood pal Laquanta Davis, 26, told The Post that Hester was not a partier and had everything going for her.
“She was an A student. She was so smart, beautiful, nice,” Davis said.
A long-running turf war may have been the cause of the deadly shootout that resulted in Asia Hester’s death. Facebook“Asia was very kind. She would give you the clothes off her back,” the friend said. “She didn’t deserve what happened to her.”
Davis said she was shocked to hear what happened because Asia “didn’t get out much.
“She wasn’t the type who went out to parties, so that took me by surprise. Who would have ever thought it would turn out this way for her,” the pal lamented. “She was so sweet, so sweet and loving. It hurts, it really does.”
Meanwhile, tributes to Hester poured in on social media.
“Asia, I’ve watched you grow up and become a beautiful young woman inside and out! I’m so sorry this crazy person took your life away. May he get what is coming to him,” Nicole Killeen Ramseur wrote on Facebook.
Another pal, Liliana Juarez, wrote, “Asia Hester was not only my coworker, but she was my friend.
“My heart feels heavy to know someone with so much light got her life taken away. Our work family won’t be the same- our unit will not be the same without you, Asia.
“I hope heaven treats you well and you never lose your AirPods because we had a crazy tendency of doing that. Sending the family so much love.”
Additional reporting by Kate Sheehy
