Woman Pleads Guilty to Shooting Mother in Boonton Street

Nearly two years after a woman was shot dead on a Boonton street one summer night while walking with her toddler son and the boy's father, the woman accused of shooting her pleaded guilty to murder.

Antoinette Stephen, a 28-year-old from Billerica, Mass., pleaded guilty to the murder, conspiracy to commit murder and weapons charges in Superior Court in Morristown on May 16, according to The Star-Ledger. If convicted, she faces a possible life-plus-50-years sentence in state prison.

Both Stephen and Kashif Parvaiz, 26, of Brooklyn, N.Y., were charged with murder following a Morris County Prosecutor's Office investigation into the death of Nazish Noorani, 27, in August 2011. Parvaiz, Noorani's husband, and Stephen were allegedly acquaintances and plotted the killing of Noorani together, according to former Morris County Prosecutor Robert Bianchi.

Noorani and Parvaiz were walking with their 3-year-old son on the 400-block of Cedar Street when neighbors reported sounds of gunshots. Two sustained gunshot wounds, Parvaiz and Noorani, who ultimately died from her injuries. The couple's son was not injured.

Initially, the prosecutor's office believed Parvaiz to have been the only person involved in the killing as his story had changed several times while being interrogated. Later, Stephen was named as another possible "person of interest" and was located in Boston, despite being in Boonton during the time of the shooting.

Court documents allege Parvaiz physically abused Noorani and that she was scared to leave him. Noorani was also the mother of a 5-year-old and had communicated with relatives about her fear of her husband.

Authorities found a string of text messages allegedly linking Parvaiz and Stephen to the crime, although no evidence of a sexual or romantic relationship between the two was released.

Both Parvaiz and Stephen pleaded not guilty to the charges last July. But according to documents filed with the court this month, The Star-Ledger reported, Stephen went for a plea agreement and will cooperate with authorities in their prosecution of Parvaiz.