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Johnnie Lattner, 55 -- the co-founder of PULSE (Parents Unified for Local School Education) -- was found unresponsive at a Mount Pleasant Avenue home Aug. 17, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens, II, and Newark Public Safety Director Anthony F. Ambrose said.
The death was considered suspicious and ruled a homicide following an autopsy, Ambrose and Stephens said. The cause of death was sharp force injuries, an ECPO spokeswoman said.
Joshua Wise, 28, of Newark -- who knew Lattner -- was charged with killing him Wednesday, authorities said. Wise was also facing related weapons charges, they said.
Wise was being held at the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark.
Lattner's non-profit organization PULSE in 2014 held a boycott against Newark Public Schools and filed an Office of Civil Rights complaint saying proposed school closings in the district wre discriminatory against black students.
Lattner ran for a seat on Newark's Board of Education in 2018.
The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide/Major Crimes Task Force, which includes detectives from the Newark Police Department, is handling the active and ongoing investigation.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office tips line at 1-877-TIPS-4EC or 1-877-847-7432.
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