3 killed execution style, 1 survived-all under age 21, Newark, NJ

[mrs. red]

http://www.charter.net/news/read.php?ps=1011&id=13907197&_LT=HOME_LARSDCCLM_UNEWS


Schoolyard Killings Shock Newark, N.J.
Monday, August 6, 2007 9:32 PM EDT
The Associated Press
By DAVID PORTER Associated Press Writer

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — In a city where gun violence has become an all too common part of daily life, these shootings were enough to chill even the most hardened residents: Four young friends shot execution-style in a schoolyard just days before they were to head to college.

Three were killed after being forced to kneel against a wall and then shot in the head at close range Saturday night, police said. A girl was found slumped near some bleachers 30 feet away, a gunshot wound to the head but still alive.

The four Newark residents were to attend Delaware State University this fall. No arrests had been made by Monday and authorities had not identified suspects.

The shootings ratcheted up anger in New Jersey's largest city, where the murder rate has risen 50 percent since 1998. The high number of killings have prompted billboards in the downtown area that scream, "HELP WANTED: Stop the Killings in Newark Now!"

"Anyone who has children in the city is in panic mode," said Donna Jackson, president of Take Back Our Streets, a community-based organization. "It takes something like this for people to open up their eyes and understand that not every person killed in Newark is a drug dealer."

The killings bring Newark's murder total for the year to 60, and put pressure on Mayor Cory A. Booker, who campaigned last year on a promise of reducing crime.

Jackson said Booker "doesn't deserve another day, another second, while our children are at stake."

Booker said Monday that it was "not a time to play politics and divide our city." A $50,000 reward was being offered for information leading to the arrest of those involved, he said.

A month ago, Booker and Police Director Garry McCarthy announced that crime in the city had fallen by 20 percent in the first six months of 2007 compared to a year ago. Yet despite decreases in the number of rapes, aggravated assaults and robberies, the murders have continued.

Natasha Aeriel, 19, was listed in fair condition at Newark's University Hospital. Police identified her slain companions as her brother, Terrance Aeriel, 18, Iofemi Hightower, 20, and Dashon Harvey, 20.

Authorities believe the shootings were a random robbery committed by several assailants and that some of the victims may have tried to resist their attackers. They were piecing together details of the attack from interviews with Natasha Aeriel.

Hightower and the Aeriels had been friends since elementary school and played in the marching band at West Side High School. Terrance Aeriel, known as T.J., took Hightower to the school prom in 2006, chauffeured by his sister.

At Delaware State they met Harvey, another musician, and struck up a friendship. Friends and family members said the four were not involved in drinking, drugs or gangs. They liked to congregate at the school, which sits in a middle-class neighborhood less than a mile from the campus of Seton Hall University, to hang out and listen to music.

Harvey's father, James, said Monday the parents of the assailants were to blame.

"If you raised your kids better, this would not happen," he said.

Hightower worked two jobs and recently enrolled at the school. One of her jobs was at Brighton Gardens, an assisted living center in nearby West Orange, where her mother also worked.

On the afternoon of the killings, she told her mother she planned to spend the night at Natasha Aeriel's house near the Mount Vernon School.

"The last time I heard her voice was Saturday night," Hightower said between sobs. "She called me from work to let me know Natasha was going to pick her up and she was going to spend the night. She told me she loved me."

The Aerials' mother, Renee Tucker, said the last time she saw them was around 10:30 p.m. Saturday, when they told her they were going around the corner to get something to eat.

"They said they were going to come right back to the house," Tucker said.

[MuffyBee]

Update:
Two Arrested In Newark Execution Slay
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/08/09/national/main3151177.shtml

[MsVada]

I'm glad they've got someone in custody for this.  I am appaled at the way some of these teenagers behave, they sould be tried as adults at this point.  It will be interesting to see if they have any prior criminal records.

[MuffyBee]

Suspect Pleads Not Guilty in New Jersey Students' Execution-Style Deaths
AND this suspect is a Peruvian Illegal AND he was previously charged WITH RAPING A 5 YEAR OLD CHILD

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,292717,00.html

[MuffyBee]

3rd Person In Custody In Newark Killings

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/08/10/national/main3156414.shtml

[FoolsGold]

A girl was found slumped near some bleachers 30 feet away, a gunshot wound to the head but still alive.

It was this fluke that brought the perpetrators to grief there being little chance to solve the crime other than the statements made by the survivor.

So what is the uproar about?
...That the victims were on the verge of escaping their violent environment but didn't make it?
...That the victims were killed for so little reason and so little financial gain? It seems there are lots of crimes like that. The victims had lived for nearly two decades in that environment. Life is cheap there and forensically the best thing for a perpetrator to do to avoid detection is to whack the witnesses. Bullets can do strange things in head shots. I guess he didn't know that.

I see no reason for any uproar over this particular case. Its really no different than all the other senseless murders there.

[klaasend]

FoolsGold - you seem to want to argue which topics people choose to discuss.  What others choose to discuss is not your decision to make.  If you don't care for the topic do not post in it.  Got it? 

[A's Fever]

Suspect Pleads Not Guilty in New Jersey Students' Execution-Style Deaths
AND this suspect is a Peruvian Illegal AND he was previously charged WITH RAPING A 5 YEAR OLD CHILD

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,292717,00.html

OMG Muffy, I had not seen this report before.   Why on earth was this man free?  Unbelievable.

[MuffyBee]

Cops Looking For 4th Suspect In Newark
Authorities Issue Arrest Warrant For 24-Year-Old Nicaraguan National Believed To Be "Principal Player"

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/08/11/national/main3158641.shtml

[mrs. red]

http://www.charter.net/news/read.php?ps=1011&id=13919668&_LT=HOME_LARSDCCLM_UNEWS

N.J. City Buries 3 Shooting Victims
Saturday, August 11, 2007 2:32 PM EDT
The Associated Press
By DAVID PORTER Associated Press Writer

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — The mayor of New Jersey's largest city pounded a podium, yelling "Enough is enough!" at Saturday's funeral for one of the three friends killed by shots to the head in a schoolyard.

Mayor Cory A. Booker was interrupted by applause at Metropolitan Baptist Church as he urged Newark residents to help fight the city's alarming murder rate.

"We need to raise our children," he said at the service for Dashon Harvey, 20.

The schoolyard slayings, plus an unrelated homicide soon afterward, brought the murder total for the year to 60, almost equal to the 63 that had taken place in the same period a year earlier.

Services were also held for Terrance Aeriel, 18, at New Hope Baptist Church. A later funeral was expected at the end of the morning Iofemi Hightower, 20, at Grace Temple Baptist Church.

The friends were shot on the playground of an elementary school last weekend during an apparent robbery attempt.

All three were ordered to kneel in front of a wall, then shot in the back of the head, authorities have said. Terrance Aeriel's sister, Natasha Aeriel, was shot in the head near a set of bleachers but survived and helped investigators identify a suspect.

A 28-year-old man and two 15-year-old boys have been arrested in the case, while authorities announced on Saturday an arrest warrant was issued for a fourth suspect.

The funerals drew people from the community as well the state's political leaders.

"As a human being, not just your governor, I am here with a broken heart, a sad heart, a heavy heart," Gov. Jon S. Corzine said at Harvey's funeral. "These children deserved better."

At Ariel's funeral, an overflow crowd heard a friend remember the ordained minister as someone who reached out to help others even as a youngster.

"As I grew up with him, he never changed," said Victoria Irving. "He stayed the same. He always had God on his mind. That's what I loved about him. And he was a great help to me."

Harvey and the Aeriels were students at Delaware State University, and Hightower planned to join them this fall.

The tragedy "has reverberated beyond our city, beyond our state, and across the nation," New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram said at Ariel's funeral.

On Thursday, Booker announced the arrest of 28-year-old Jose Carranza and a 15-year-old male who was not identified because of his age. Another 15-year male was arrested Friday night.

Authorities were seeking other suspects, and on Saturday announced an arrest warrant for Rodolfo Godinez, 24, described as a Nicaraguan national.



what makes this story important to me FOOLs is that these kids were on their way out, to becoming productive citizens and they were completely stopped from doing so by thugs... pure and simple.  How do we reach these kids if we don't tell them that they do matter... that it is worth it to aspire to get out?

[FoolsGold]

what makes this story important to me FOOLs is that these kids were on their way out, to becoming productive citizens and they were completely stopped from doing so by thugs... pure and simple.  How do we reach these kids if we don't tell them that they do matter... that it is worth it to aspire to get out?

That is exactly what I had already pointed out:
"That the victims were on the verge of escaping their violent environment but didn't make it?" We should indeed admire those who tried to get out.

"The victims had lived for nearly two decades in that environment."... Don't you think that in those two decades they had already heard many times that they matter and they should aspire to get out?  Well, they aspired! They did their best. Ofcourse their assailants aspired too and did their best too.  We have admiration and respect for those who almost made it out, though I am not sure the Mayor acting in such an undignified manner as to pound the podium or shout slogans thus turning their funeral into a political event reflects much admiration or respect. They almost made it out. Almost.

[MuffyBee]

Sixth Arrest In Newark Shootings Case
Tenton, NJ August 19, 2007
Police Charge 18-Year-Old In Connection With Execution-Style Killings Of Three College Students
Crime scene in NewarkThe four victims, friends aged 18 to 20, were shot execution-style while visiting in a Newark schoolyard on August 4.  (CBS)





   
(AP) Police have arrested a sixth suspect in the Aug. 4 killings of three college students, authorities said.

The 18-year-old suspect, Melvin Jovel, was charged Saturday night and apprehended in Elizabeth early Sunday morning, Essex County First Assistant Prosecutor Carolyn Murray said.

Jovel is charged with murder stemming from the execution-style slayings of Terrance Aeriel, 18; Dashon Harvey, 20, and Iofemi Hightower, 20. Aeriel's sister, Natasha, was shot in the head but survived and has helped police in the investigation.

Jovel's arrest occurred about 24 hours after federal authorities in the Washington, D.C. area arrested 24-year-old Nicaraguan immigrant Rodolfo Godinez and 16-year-old Alexander Alfaro, his stepbrother.

Godinez was arrested in Oxon Hill, Md., and Alfaro was arrested less than an hour later in Woodbridge, Va.

Three other suspects — 28-year-old Jose Carranza, an illegal immigrant from Peru, and two juveniles — were already in custody. All are charged with three counts of murder in addition to other counts.

There is no evidence of a familial connection between Jovel and the other suspects, the Essex County Prosecutor's office said Sunday.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/08/19/national/main3182556.shtml

Just how many people were in on this I wonder? 

[MuffyBee]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/15/national/main4451670.shtml
NEWARK, N.J., Sept. 15, 2008
Six Indicted In N.J. Schoolyard Slayings
CBS/ AP)  A state grand jury on Monday indicted six men being held for their alleged roles in an execution-style slaying that shocked New Jersey's largest city - and the nation - more than a year ago.

The suspects - Rodolfo Godinez, 25; his 17-year-old brother, Alexander Alfaro; Jose Lachira Carranza, 29; Melvin Jovel, 19; Shahid Baskerville, 16; and Gerardo Gomez, 16 - were all indicted on murder, attempted murder, robbery and weapons offenses related to the Aug. 4, 2007 killing.

The six men, who have reputed links to the MS-13 street gang, are accused of killing Iofemi Hightower, Terrance Aeriel and Dashon Harvey. The three were college students, and were hanging out behind the Mount Vernon School when they were killed.

Carranza and Baskerville are also charged with sexually assaulting a fourth victim who survived.

The Associated Press usually does not identify victims of rape and is no longer disclosing the woman's name because of the added sexual assault charges.

Essex County Prosecutor Paula Dow said the woman suffered memory lapses from her injuries and is currently in protective custody.

John Dell'Italia, an Orange lawyer representing Carranza, said his client was innocent and would fight the charges. Lawyers for the other defendants did not return telephone messages left at their offices on Monday.

The killings shook Newark and spurred a series of reforms, including adding surveillance cameras in some areas of the city, to penalties for gun owners who fail to report lost or stolen weapons.

Dow said robbery and gang involvement were both elements of the case, but declined to say what police believe to be the primary motive. She also said illegal guns - such as the one used in this crime - continue to plauge Newark streets.

She said the indictments took a year because three of the juvenile suspects had been upgraded to face adult charges, and because multiple agencies had been working together to make sure the case was airtight.

"This is an important case for us, and we're doing it slowly, but we're doing it the right way," Dow said.

If convicted, Dow said the suspects face multiple life sentences.

In the aftermath of the killings, the outcry over Carranza - an illegal immigrant who was out on bail at the time of the murders despite facing separate assault and child rape charges - led to a directive from the state Attorney General that revamped bail policies for illegal immigrants.

The killings also jump-started a project to put surveillance cameras in high-crime neighborhoods in Newark. About $2 million was raised in the weeks after the killings, and the first cameras were in place by September. More than 100 had been installed by the end of June, and police have credited them with cutting down on violent crime.

Last month, the families of the victims filed a lawsuit against the Newark school district that claimed the Mount Vernon School failed to provide adequate security in a rear courtyard where the victims were killed.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/05/antiviolence_marchers_embark_o.html
Anti-violence marchers embark on a 17-mile walk through Essex, Union counties
by Sharon Adarlo
Saturday May 23, 2009, 7:35 PM
Most of the two dozen or so people gathered yesterday under the branches of a tall oak tree in East Orange, their heads bowed in prayer, were the friends or relatives of someone who had recently been murdered.

The group gathered before the start of a nearly 18-mile journey described by organizers as the longest anti-violence march in state history. They started at East Orange's Elmwood Park shortly after noon and went though 11 other Essex and Union county towns.
<snipped>
Shalga Hightower, mother of Iofemi Hightower, one of the three young people slain in a Newark schoolyard in 2007, said she wanted to participate in the march to lend awareness of rampant gun violence in cities.

"People have to know this is real," she said as she wore a T-shirt with an image of her smiling daughter in a blue prom dress. "No one really knows the aftermath of losing a young child to gun violence."

<snipped>