Background
Tara Correa-McMullen was born Shalvah McMullen in Westminster, Vermont to mother Mary Devra Correa and father Thomas McMullen. In 1996, she, her mother, and her older sister Abigail moved to Northern California, and later settled in Venice, an affluent neighborhood of Los Los Angeles
Education
Correa-McMullen attended Claremont Middle School and later Venice High School, where she sang in the school"s choir.
Career
She played gang member Graciela Reyes on the Columbia Broadcasting System television series Judging Amy. On October 21, 2005, she was shot dead in front of an apartment complex in Inglewood, California. Correa-McMullen had no acting experience prior to landing the role.
Correa-McMullen also had a small role on one episode of Zoey 101.
In early 2005, 16-year-old Correa-McMullen moved into her own apartment in Inglewood, California and began dating a gang member ten years her senior. On the evening of October 21, 2005, she was shot to death by gang member Damien Watts.
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.
She is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills of Los Los Angeles
Damien Watts was charged with one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder on March 1, 2006. On January 23, 2009, he was convicted of Correa-McMullen"s murder. He was also convicted of killing Thomas Sanders in a separate incident.
Watts was sentenced to five life sentences without parole on February 27, 2009.
Watts" accomplice in the shooting spree, Joseph Wayne Jones, was also sentenced to life without parole. In 2007, Tara Correa-McMullen was profiled on the East! documentary series Boulevard of Broken Dreams.