The Essex County prosecutor is speaking out about the arrest of the man wanted for the fatal shooting of a 9-year-old boy. The suspect in that shooting also made his first appearance on Thursday before a judge in Newark.

Jesse Dunbar, 36, appeared virtually from the Essex County Jail. He sat before Judge Sybil Elias and through the public defender, entered a not guilty plea to all counts.

Dunbar is facing charges that include murder, attempted murder, weapons possession and aggravated assault.

He’s accused of shooting 9-year-old Yasin Morrison along Osborn Terrace, as well as allegedly shooting a man who, at this point, has not been identified.

Morrison was getting dropped off at his grandmother’s house in Newark on Friday when the incident occurred. He was on the sidewalk when he was killed by a stray bullet.

The Essex County prosecutor would not identify the man who was shot and wounded, only say the case is still under investigation.

"As a father, this was a heinous crime. A 9-year-old boy going home from school. His life was taken for no good reason. People have asked us, ‘What’s the motive?’ We don’t know yet," says Mitchell McGuire, chief of detectives with Essex County.

The prosecutor, police and mayor stood side by side on Friday saying that police and detectives assigned to the case worked around the clock to find the shooter.

The arrest, in some sense, is meant to serve as a warning for those who do harm in Newark, especially to a child.

"These incidents will not go unanswered that we will not allow people to come in and be reckless in our community, to endanger the people in our city and take the lives of innocent children," says Mayor Ras Baraka. “We will come after you and we will come after you hard and quick.”

"Gun violence is still a scar on our community that never seems to heal. It seems like the next episode of gun violence threatens to undo everything we’ve done to get to a more positive place…it’s fleeting," said Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stephens.

Morrison leaves behind five siblings and his parents, who are now taking donations to help pay for the child’s burial.