Homicide Watch Trenton

A former Latin Kings gang member testified Wednesday he overheard Latin Kings leader Jose “Boom Bat” Negrete give a direct order to execute gang turncoat Alex Ruiz whose defection from a rival gang sparked a war.

Roberto “Bam Bam” Rodriguez, 40, recounted for a jury how he and three other gang members were sent Aug. 30, 2004, to the Chestnut Street home Ruiz shared with Jeri Lynn Dotson with the intent of beating him.

All that changed once they arrived.

Rodriguez, once the leader of the Latin Kings who is now free after serving a 12-year sentence in state prison the attempt on Ruiz, said he was within earshot of a phone conversation between Negrete and Esmeraldo “Esmo” Rodriguez, Negrete’s second in command.

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When Jose “Boom Bat” Negrete was installed as leader of the Latin Kings in the summer of 2004, the group underwent a stark transformation, from a loosely organized group of men who grew up together in Trenton, into a feared street gang, codified by a commitment to crime and carrying out orders, a former gang member said.

Wilfredo “Hype” Rosa, who spent nearly a dozen years as a Latin King after joining as a teenager, testified Tuesday he also witnessed the evolution of Angel “Ace” Hernandez, from a young boy into a cold-blooded convicted killer serving a life sentence for fatally shooting Latin “Queen” Jeri Lynn Dotson on Aug. 31, 2004.

In chilling testimony, Rosa, now 32, said he and Hernandez visited the woman’s neighborhood hours after Hernandez executed Dotson at point-blank range inside the basement of her Chestnut Street apartment. Hernandez apparently didn’t stir when the duo noticed the area overrun by police officers and cordoned off by yellow police tape.

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Two men convicted of fatally shooting convicted drug dealer Tracy Crews during a 2008 botched robbery are asking a judge to render a jury’s verdict moot and acquit them of murder.

William “Paperboy” Brown, 30, and Nigel “Youngin” Dawson, 31, were convicted last month of felony murder, murder, robbery and weapons offenses following a six-week jury trial. They face life in prison when they are sentenced April 10 by Superior Court Judge Andrew Smithson.

Nigel Dawson and William Brown are accused of the 2008 murder of Tracy Crews. (Submitted photos)

Their attorneys argue Smithson’s decision to allow in Crews’ dying declaration biased the jury, especially after a previous judge ruled it was inadmissible.

Steven Lember, Brown’s attorney, wrote in his motion Smithson’s decision “irreparably damaged” the defendants’ right to a fair trial. Anticipating Smithson will deny the motion for acquittal, Lember also requested a new trial.

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Two people were murdered in Trenton within a 24-hour period.

Police inspect a car that a driver who was shot crashed into a building on Ardmore Avenue. March 11, 2015 (Trentonian/L.A. Parker)

Around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, police were dispatched to the 400 block of Ardmore Avenue to investigate reported gunfire and found a man suffering from at least one gunshot wound. The victim was taken to the hospital where he was later pronounced dead. His name and age were not available at press time.

Police scanners reported that the man was driving a car and crashed it into a building. Investigators were on-scene looking for evidence inside the car, but it is unclear how much damage was caused to the building. Read more

The former beau of a Latin “queen” gang member allegedly ordered killed by Latin King gang leader Jose Negrete testified Wednesday he knew something was wrong when he encountered a swarm of police officers in his former girlfriend’s neighborhood after he was dispatched there to pick up a vehicle.

Dimas Peralta, a former high-ranking Latin Kings gang member and the father of murder victim Jeri Lynn Dotson’s two children, said he was on call as a tow truck driver when he arrived at Dotson’s Chestnut Street apartment around 8 a.m. on Aug. 31, 2004.

He was intercepted by a detective, who asked him if he knew a young girl sitting outside of the home. Peralta recognized the girl as his daughter. He was informed police needed to speak with him at headquarters.

Fifteen hours passed, Peralta said, before he was informed his former girlfriend was killed. She was shot in the head and left on the basement floor of her Chestnut Street apartment with a cigarette lighter and piece of candy on her body.

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A former leader of the Ñetas street gang testified Tuesday he ordered underlings to beat gang turncoat Alex Ruiz for more than 20 minutes near railroad tracks at a park after he defected to the Latin Kings, triggering a war between the rival factions.

Fernando Rivera, the Ñetas’ former top boss, said the only reason he didn’t order Ruiz murdered was because the victim’s brother was a member of the Ñetas. Apparently even in gangland culture, blood is thicker than beef.

“To be honest,” said Rivera, whose own criminal rap sheet includes convictions for kidnapping, aggravated assault and drug trafficking, “the reason I didn’t kill Alex was because of his brother. I can’t take his family member out even though he crossed the line.”

Rivera’s testimony in the fourth murder trial of Latin Kings gang leader Jose Negrete was startling even on a day filled with fireworks. Another witness’ refusal to answer prosecutors’ questions could lead to him being held in contempt.

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A Trenton man admitted Monday he pried a knife from the hands of his girlfriend and stabbed her to death after she attacked him during a jealous rage.

Jose Delgado-Febres, 39, acknowledged stabbing 27-year-old Yerika Hernandez in the back during an early-morning argument April 28, 2009 that erupted after his live-in girlfriend accused him of cheating. Read more

Jose “Boom Bat” Negrete, then the new leader of the Latin Kings street gang, was charismatic. He was also two-faced, a former member of the street gang testified.

Jose “Boom Bat” Negrete

Standing over the casket of Latin “Queen” Jeri Lynn Dotson, Negete and a now ex-Latin Kings gang member turned state witness Jonathan Rodriguez were paying their final respects at Dotson’s funeral. Negrete placed black and yellow rosary beads — the gang’s colors — and a yellow bandana in Dotson’s casket.

Then, growing enraged, Negrete blamed the woman’s fate on her choices. Dotson was found dead inside her home August 30, 2004, suffering from a single execution-style gunshot wound to the back of the head, after she witnessed the abduction of another gang member, Alex Ruiz. Read more

Opening statements are set for Thursday morning in the fourth murder trial of a Latin Kings gang leader accused of ordering the murder of a 23-year-old woman to ensure her silence after she witnessed the abduction of a fellow gang member.

Jose “Boom Bat” Negrete

Two weeks after attorneys began the process of selecting, whittling down and peppering a pool of more than 100 prequalified prospective jurors with questions about their thoughts on gangs and whether the defendant’s gang ties would impact their ability to serve fairly and impartially, they came away Wednesday with a panel of 16 jurors for the trial of Jose “Boom Bat” Negrete, who is charged with ordering the Aug. 30, 2004 murder of 23-year-old Jeri Lynn Dotson. Read more

A camouflage ski mask with traces of William Brown’s DNA.

Jailhouse informants who said co-defendant Nigel Joseph Dawson confessed he fatally shot Tracy Crews, a Bloods gang member and convicted drug dealer, in the neck with a 9 mm luger inside the kitchen of his Whittaker Avenue residence on Sept. 12, 2008.

And Crews’ dying declaration, as told by his widow, Sheena Robinson-Crews, that Brown, known as “Paperboy,” was responsible for the murder of his close friend.

Those were the state’s strongest proofs in the Crews’ murder trial.

“Everything else,” Steven Lember, the attorney for Brown, surmised during summations, “was reasonable doubt.”

But on late Friday afternoon, after two days of deliberation a jury of 12 convicted Brown and Dawson on eight counts of felony murder, murder, robbery and weapons offenses, not quite how defense attorneys boldly predicted at the outset of an action-packed trial, defined by salacious allegations of a setup by Crews’ best man and former roommate, Brown, over $40,000 in drug proceeds. Read more