3 Killed Execution Style Behind School

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3 Killed Execution Style Behind School -- Newsday.com


NEWARK, N.J. - Three friends were forced to kneel against a wall behind an elementary school and were shot to death at close range, and a fourth was found about 30 feet away with gunshot and knife wounds to her head, police said.

All were from Newark and planned to attend Delaware State University this fall.

Essex County Prosecutor Paula Dow said authorities didn't have any suspects or a motive in the killings late Saturday. None of the victims had any criminal record, she said.

"They were good kids," Dow said.

The four had been listening to music in a parking lot behind Mount Vernon School when they were gradually joined by a group of men, authorities said.

Newark Police Director Garry McCarthy said the four exchanged text messages saying they should leave, but were attacked before they could do so.

Police said the attackers shot one young woman, then forced her three companions down an alley, lined them up against a wall, made them kneel and shot each in the head.

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

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.

Hightower was a motivated student who had recently enrolled at Delaware State, according to his great-uncle John McClain.

"She was one of the most beautiful ladies you'd ever want to meet," McClain said. "Very smart, very intelligent. She wanted to be something in life."

In the wake of the killings, Mayor Cory A. Booker's administration was again hearing from residents angry about the city's homicide rate.

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 killings have continued.

"He doesn't deserve another day, another second, while our children are at stake," said Donna Jackson, president of Take Back Our Streets, a community-based organization. "Anyone who has children in the city is in panic mode."

Booker's office didn't return a call for comment on Monday.

Saturday night's killings, along with an unrelated shooting over the weekend that killed a Montclair man, brought Newark's 2007 homicide toll to 60. That is three fewer than in the same period in 2006. But there have been 17 slaying in the eight weeks since June 12.

At Delaware State, officials said the school plans to hold a memorial service Aug. 28, after the student body returns for the fall semester.

"While the murder of the two students is a terribly loss in human terms, the facts that they were a part of the DSU family and were striving to earn a degree, create a bright future for themselves and become a solid contributors to society, makes this violent act especially tragic and senseless," university President Allen Sessoms said.


my goodness. sigh!! I dont understand why they got shot when they didnt do anything wrong. Stupid gangs or whoever killed 3 of them. The family of victims are in my prayer!!
 
In acts like these you always try to search for a truth, a reason. You keep asking yourself why, what made them such monsters. What turns a man to killing his own brethen for no reason? Even if you got an answer I doubt it would be enough to satisfy you. No words could ever ease such suffering or anger. What a world we live in. It makes you believe that evil exists in the hearts of all of us just waiting for one moment of weakness to imbue its claws deep into your soul. Then again, is there such thing as good an evil or is it just humanitys imagination to interpet that of which cannot be explained?
 
What a sad and scary!! The families are in my thought. :( So sad! Damn whoever did it should be execution right away!!! GRRRRRRR! Those young people have a full of life and now their lives were so short!
 
Update

Arrest Made in Killing of Three Students

Story - Arrest Made in Killing of Three Students - AOL News


NEWARK, N.J. (Aug. 9) - Police arrested a 15-year-old boy in the killings of three college students in a schoolyard, shootings considered jarring even in a city used to violence, a law enforcement official said Thursday.

The teen was arrested Wednesday night, said Paul Loriquet, a spokesman for the Essex County Prosecutor's Office.

Four friends, ages 18 to 20, were shot while hanging out in a school yard Saturday night. Authorities have said robbery appeared to be the motive.

Three of the victims -- Terrance Aeriel, 18, Dashon Harvey, 20; and Iofemi Hightower, 20 -- were forced to kneel against a wall and were shot at close range. The fourth, 19-year-old Natasha Aeriel, Terrance Aeriel's sister, survived a wound to her head and is hospitalized.

Despite being under sedation for periods, Natasha Aeriel has been providing authorities with information about the shootings, Mayor Cory A. Booker said.

The killings brought unwanted publicity to the city, which has struggled for years with violent crime. Residents and law enforcement organizations have donated $150,000 to aid the victims' families and to a reward fund.

"This is a defining moment for our city. The crime is not going to define Newark but our response to it," Booker said Thursday on ABC's "Good Morning America."

All four victims were planning to attend Delaware State University this fall. Instead, three were to be buried Saturday in separate services.
 
Another update:

Jose Carranza is an illegal alien from Peru, with a record of prior crimes. :mad:
 
geez that's crazy hope he is hanged for doing a awful thing and the families are in my thoughts hope they are ok but I send condolonces to their familes.
 
Update:

Arrest Warrant Issued for Fourth Suspect in Newark Killings
Saturday , August 11, 2007

NEWARK, N.J. —
Authorities have identified a fourth suspect in the execution-style killings of three college students in Newark last weekend, issuing an arrest warrant Saturday for 24-year-old Rodolfo Godinez.

Godinez, a Nicaraguan national who also uses the name Gomez, is considered "a principal player" in the case, Newark Police Director Garry McCarthy told The Star-Ledger of Newark.

Saturday's developments follow a shocking turn in the investigation Friday. On Friday, FOX 5 New York reported that two of the victims may have been sexually assaulted before they were killed by an illegal immigrant with a violent criminal history.

According to FOX 5 New York, a sexual attack may have occurred before Terrance Aeriel, Iofemi Hightower and Dashon Harvey were shot to death, and a fourth victim, 19-year old Natasha Aerial, was critically wounded...

The suspect in the sexual assault, Peruvian national Jose Carranza, is an illegal immigrant previously charged with raping a 5-year-old. Carranza surrendered to Newark Mayor Cory Booker on Thursday and plead not guilty to to three counts of murder and one charge each of attempted murder and robbery in Essex County Superior Court on Friday...

On Thursday, Booker announced the arrest of Carranza and a 15-year-old male who was not identified because of his age. Another 15-year male was arrested Friday night. The young age of the two teens, and Carranza's criminal history and immigration status, has heightened the outrage in the community.

Carranza was indicted by grand juries in New Jersey twice this year — in April on aggravated assault and weapons charges; and in July on 31 counts which included aggravated sexual assault of a child under 13 years old and endangering the welfare of a child he had a duty to supervise.

He was released on $50,000 bail on the assault case, which stemmed from a barroom fight, and $150,000 bail on the sexual assault indictment, which charged that the abuse began in 2003 when the girl was 4 years old and continued to this year.

Essex County Prosecutor Paula T. Dow would not answer questions about how Carranza was released on bail despite his illegal immigration status and charges earlier this year that he raped a 5-year-old, then threatened the child's parents.

"Our focus hasn't been his immigration status," McTigue said.

Prosecutors said they did not immediately recall if Carranza's immigration status was known when he was granted bail on the two indictments, and whether they opposed granting bail.

It is rare for illegal immigrants to be granted bail, especially when charged with serious crimes, said Alan L. Zegas, a noted New Jersey defense lawyer.

"The level of risk of flight increases exponentially when a person is not a citizen of this country and has few, if any, roots here," Zegas said.

State Superior Court Judge Michael R. Casale continued the $1 million bail and ordered that Carranza be held apart from other inmates at the Essex County Jail for his protection...

Officials said fingerprints on a bottle found at the shooting scene and ballistics evidence tied Carranza to the crime. Carranza and the teen were charged with three counts of first degree murder, one count of attempted murder, and other charges.

Authorities have yet to say what kind of weapon was used in the shootings or who they believe fired the shots.

FOXNews.com - Arrest Warrant Issued for Fourth Suspect in Newark Killings - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News
Click to expand...
 
dang!!! another one!! sigh..

Thanks for more information Reba. I didn't have a time to search everything. I appreciated it. :hug:
 
UPDATE:

Newark buries 3 college friends killed in schoolyard shooting


Newark buries 3 college friends killed in schoolyard shooting


NEWARK, N.J. - Mourners shed tears and showed a resolve to end the city's deadly violence at funeral services Saturday for three college-age friends who were lined up against a schoolyard wall and killed by shots to the head.

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

"Enough is enough!" Booker thundered as he pounded a podium next to a flower-draped coffin containing the body of 20-year-old Dashon Harvey

Harvey, an aspiring fashion model and social work major at Delaware State University, was remembered by his classmates as goodhearted and always wearing a smile.

The slayings late on Aug. 4, plus an unrelated homicide soon afterward, brought Newark's murder total for the year to 60, almost equal to the 63 that had taken place in the same period a year earlier. The city's murder rate has increased 50 percent in the last decade to a total of 106 last year.

Three people have been arrested in connection with the three slayings, two of them juveniles, and police on Saturday announced a warrant for a fourth person _ Rodolfo Godinez, 24, described as "a principal player" in the case.

Saturday was a day of mourning in the city, with funerals for Harvey, 18-year-old Terrance Aeriel and 20-year-old Iofemi Hightower.

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.

Hightower was "a beautiful person inside and out" who had tried to elevate herself "beyond what we all see around us," her aunt, Gloria Hightower, said at a service at Grace Temple Baptist Church. Hightower was working two jobs this summer and was in the process of enrolling at Delaware State.

The other three already were students there, and scores of Delaware State students attended the funerals.

All four victims had been active in their high school marching bands in Newark. Harvey was a drum major at Malcolm X. Shabazz High School.

"If 'Shawny' were here today, he'd say 'Celebrate!' He was a drum major, and he is just playing somewhere else now," the Rev. David Jefferson Sr. said.

Terrance Aeriel, known as T.J., was ordained as a minister at the age of 13 in 2002. He was remembered for his devotion to the church and his work with youth organizations.

"As I grew up with him, he never changed," friend Victoria Irving said at Aeriel's funeral at New Hope Baptist Church. "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."
 
so sad to hear that the lives are cut short. I will pray for the families in this difficult times... :(

Glad to hear that the suspects are caught and hope thye will charged with death punishment being SHOT at execution style so they will know what its like being in the victims shoes.... sheehs..
 
Update

More Suspects Arrested in N.J. Slayings


More Suspects Arrested in N.J. Slayings


NEWARK, N.J. - Two more suspects were arrested Saturday in the execution-style shootings of three college students in a schoolyard, marking five arrests in a case that has stunned a city where gun violence is common.

The two suspects were found in suburban Washington and are awaiting extradition to New Jersey, authorities said.

Rodolfo Godinez, a 24-year-old Nicaraguan immigrant, was arrested in a rooming house in Oxon Hill, Md., said John Cuff, an investigator with the U.S. Marshals Service.

He was being held on $1 million bail and charged with three counts of first degree murder, one count of attempted murder, and other charges, said Carolyn Murray, first assistant prosecutor for Essex County.

Alexander Alfaro, 16, believed to be Godinez's half brother, was later arrested in Woodbridge, Va., said Robert Fernandez, commander of the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force of the U.S. Marshals Service. Alfaro will face similar charges as Godinez, Murray said.

It could take weeks for the pair to return to New Jersey if they fight extradition, Murray said. The 16-year-old is expected to appear for an extradition hearing in juvenile court in Virginia on Monday, she said. Neither had lawyers as of Saturday night, she said.

Authorities were still searching for an additional suspect.

They were wanted in connection with the Aug. 4 slayings in which the victims were forced to kneel in front of a wall behind an elementary school and shot in the back of the head.

Authorities have said robbery appeared to be the motive.

Killed in the attack were 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.

Hightower's mother, Shalga Hightower, said Saturday's arrests gave her peace. "My child can rest now," she said.

Authorities had received a tip that Godinez was planning to flee to Texas and then to Mexico, according to James Plousis, a U.S. marshal who is responsible for New Jersey.

Godinez was found in the back of a far room of the apartment and had to be draggged out, said Osmund Tan, an inspector with the capital area task force.

The apartment was crowded with people, but had almost no furniture and appeared to be used by day laborers, Fernandez said.

"It was in very poor condition," Fernandez said. "There was a torn-up old couch, a television, a milk crate. The rest of it was empty except for some mattresses, clothing and trash on the floor."

Nearly 10 other people were arrested for immigration violations in the operation, Deputy U.S. Marshal Bill Sorukas said.

In Virginia, Prince William County Police said three others were arrested at the Woodbridge address where the 16-year-old was found. They were arrested on charges of immigration violations and obstruction of justice.

Previous arrests in the case include Jose Carranza, a 28-year-old illegal immigrant from Peru, and two juveniles.
 
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