“Just before dawn, the quiet on Turner Street was shattered by gunfire,” recalled Joshuah Hoffner, a witness who survived the ordeal. Early on July 22, neighbors on the 700 block of West Turner Street in Allentown awoke to the sound of two sharp cracks, followed by a child’s desperate cries. When officers arrived at 4:23 a.m., they found 22‑year‑old Jerkera Battle lying lifeless in the hallway of her apartment, her infant son unharmed but traumatized.
An Allentown Police Department press release confirmed that Battle’s ex‑boyfriend, 27‑year‑old Adam Makowka of South Whitehall Township, is the sole suspect in the killing. “Makowka drove to the scene shortly before 3:45 a.m., concealed an AR‑15 rifle in a case, then entered the apartment through rooftop access,” police stated. Inside, he opened fire, striking Battle multiple times in front of her baby. Witness Hoffner, who wrestled the rifle away as it jammed, described the moment he feared for his life: “He leveled the rifle at me after emptying the magazine, and I thought he was going to kill me next.” …