| Tara Correa-McMullen | |
| Birth Name: | Shalvah McMullen |
| Birth Date: | 24 May 1989 |
| Birth Place: | Westminster, Vermont, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Inglewood, California, U.S. |
| Death Cause: | Murder by gunshot wounds |
| Other Names: | Tara Correa |
| Occupation: | Actress |
| Years Active: | 2004–2005 |
| Restingplace: | Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Los Angeles, California |
Tara Correa-McMullen (born Shalvah McMullen; May 24, 1989 - October 21, 2005) was an American actress. She played gang member Graciela Reyes on the CBS drama series Judging Amy. On October 21, 2005, she was shot deadby a real gang memberin front of her apartment complex in Inglewood, California.
Tara Correa-McMullen was born in Westminster, Vermont, to mother Mary Devra Correa and father Thomas McMullen.[1] In 1996, she, her mother, and her older sister Abigail moved to Southern California, and later settled in Venice, an affluent neighborhood of Los Angeles. Correa-McMullen attended Claremont Middle School and later Venice High School, where she sang in the school's choir.[2]
Correa-McMullen's only film role was in the 2005 film Rebound, when her mother, who was working for a casting company at the time, recommended her daughter for the role. Correa-McMullen had no acting experience prior to landing the role.[2] She later won a part as a recurring character on the CBS drama series Judging Amy as Graciela Reyes, a young gang member and appeared in seven episodes, which aired in first run from October 2004 to April 2005, during the series' final season. Correa-McMullen also had a small role on one episode of Nickelodeon television series Zoey 101 in 2005.
In early 2005, 16-year-old Correa-McMullen moved into her own apartment in Inglewood, California, and began dating a gang member, Christopher Avery, ten years her senior.[3] On the evening of October 21, 2005, she was shot to death by gang member Damien Watts.[4] At the time of her death, Correa-McMullen was outside her apartment complex and was trying to run inside for safety. Two other people were also shot in the incident, but survived.[5] She is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles.[6]
Damien Watts was charged with one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder on March 1, 2006.[5] On January 23, 2009, he was convicted of Correa-McMullen's murder, the murder of another person chosen at random the day before he killed Correa-McMullen, and six counts of attempted murder over his two day shooting spree (at three locations), with special circumstance for allegations of gang murder and multiple murders; none of the multiple shooting victims were involved in gang activity, but Watts's stated intent was "to shoot up rival gang territory".[7] Watts was sentenced to five consecutive life sentences without parole on February 27, 2009.[7] Watts' accomplice in the shooting spree, Joseph Wayne Jones, was also sentenced to life without parole.[8]
Correa-McMullen's murder was featured in "A Rising Star Shot Down", the premiere episode of the 2024 season of the true crime documentary series Death by Fame, on the Canadian Investigation Discovery.[3] [9]