NEWARK, N.J. — A Newark woman has been convicted of attempted murder for shooting a brother and sister during an armed robbery in the city last year, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office said.
A jury found Tia Roulhac, 43, guilty on Oct. 29 after about two hours of deliberations, according to Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens II.
Roulhac was convicted of two counts of first-degree attempted murder and one count of first-degree robbery. The jury also found her guilty of second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, third-degree possession of a firearm without a serial number, commonly called a ghost gun, fourth-degree possession of hollow-nose bullets and fourth-degree possession of a large-capacity magazine.
Prosecutors said that around 10:08 a.m. on Feb. 19, 2025, Comfort Kollie, 41, and her brother, Moses Kromah, 39, both of Newark, were riding in Kollie’s Toyota RAV4 near South 17th Street and 19th Avenue when Roulhac, driving a Ford F-150 pickup, cut them off.
Roulhac walked up to the driver’s side, pointed a handgun at the siblings and demanded Kromah’s jacket, according to the prosecutor’s office. After he handed it over, she fired two shots. One struck Kromah in the neck and the other hit Kollie in the chest, prosecutors said.
Roulhac drove off but later came back to the 400 block of South 17th Street, where she accidentally shot herself in the groin with the same gun, the office said. She and both victims were taken to University Hospital for treatment.
Investigators recovered the handgun beneath the porch of a home on the same block.
“This verdict brings a dangerous offender to justice and sends a clear message that those who commit violent crimes will be held fully accountable,” Assistant Prosecutor Cara Brady said after the verdict.
Assistant Prosecutor Jenna Ventola, who tried the case with Brady before Superior Court Judge Naazneen Khan, added: “Justice was done in this case. We thank the jury for its careful deliberation and the investigators from the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office and the Newark Police Division who built this case. We thank the victims for their courage and hope it brings them some measure of peace.”
Roulhac is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 15, 2027. She faces up to 20 years in state prison on each first-degree count.
The prosecutor’s office asks anyone with information about criminal activity to call its tips line at 1-877-TIPS-4EC (1-877-847-7432). Calls are confidential, the office said.
This report is based on information from the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.
Source: Essex County Prosecutor’s Office press release
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