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Donqua “Quay” Thomas, 32, faces a minimum of 30 years in state prison without parole, with the possibility of a lifetime term, when he is sentenced on Sept. 22.
The woman he killed, Remy Lee, 31, was two weeks away from delivering their newborn son when Thomas shot her four times in broad daylight in a parking lot at the city’s Brooks-Sloate Terrace co-ops on Oct. 29, 2020, jurors in Paterson found.
Thomas had been sitting in a car, waiting for Lee, for nearly 90 minutes before the mother of two returned to the Christina Place complex from a doctor’s visit and was gunned down, investigators said at the time.
She was conscious and able to communicate with her mother and others who rushed to Lee’s side, as well as to police and paramedics when they arrived, they said.
An ambulance took Lee to St. Joseph’s University Medical Center, where she delivered a healthy baby boy before dying.
Authorities, meanwhile, issued an alert soon after for a red Scion coupe that they said Thomas had shot at her from.
They also interviewed the family members and neighbors while checking footage from several neighborhood surveillance cameras.
Chief Assistant Passaic County Prosecutor Allan P. Nawrocki secured convictions against Thomas of murder and weapons offenses – including having a gun in his possession as a convicted felon – before Superior Court Judge Justine A. Niccollai in Paterson.
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ORIGINAL STORY (Nov. 3, 2020): A pregnant woman who was shot outside her Paterson home identified her killer shortly before she died, authorities said.
Remy Lee, 31, told neighbors and first responders that “Quay” – Donqua Thomas -- gunned her down in a parking lot at the Brooks-Sloate Terrace co-ops on Christina Place last Thursday, according to a city police affidavit filed in Superior Court in Paterson.
Thomas, 30, sat in a car waiting for Lee for nearly 90 minutes before Lee returned from a doctor's visit.
Shots rang out, neighbors said, before the red coupe sped off.
The mother of two, who was due to deliver their newborn son in two weeks, was conscious and able to communicate when police and paramedics arrived, responders said.
An ambulance took her to St. Joseph’s Reginal Medical Center, where she delivered a healthy baby boy before dying, authorities said.
Police issued an alert for the red Scion.
Meanwhile, detectives interviewed neighbors and family members and checked footage from several neighborhood surveillance cameras.
Then they got a warrant for Thomas's arrest.
An intense manhunt ended Sunday when Thomas surrendered to face first-murder and weapons charges, which include being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
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