Three men charged in the fatal shooting death of 34-year-old Emilio Lopez rejected prosecutors’ offer calling for 30-year sentences for murder and are expected to be tried together.
No trial date has been set for Roberto Cruz, 33, Kenneth Rivera and Jose Rivera, both 21, who all face up to 75 years in state prison if they are convicted by a jury of charges of murder and weapons offenses in the Nov. 16, 2012 death of Lopez. Read more
A city man who was arrested last week after police raided his home and found weapons and drugs has been charged in connection with the murder of former city boxer Steven Brannon.
On the evening of March 10, police found 46-year-old Steven Quinton Brannon and 58-year-old Marvin Williams suffering from gunshot wounds in the 200 block of East Hanover Street. Williams was shot in the hip and groin area and survived his injuries. Brannon was shot in the throat and later died at the hospital.
William Snead III
On Thursday last week, police raided the East Hanover Street home of 31-year-old William Snead III and found six grams of cocaine, 25 grams of marijuana, a Hi-Point .40 caliber handgun, a TW-11 stun gun, numerous rounds of ammunition and drug paraphernalia. Snead was arrested at the time of the raid and charged with various drug and weapons offenses.
Then, on Friday, prosecutors charged Snead with murder, aggravated assault and various weapons offenses in connection with the March 10 shooting that claimed Brannon’s life and injured Williams. Snead is now being held on $1 million cash or bond for the murder charges.
“We were wondering why it was taking so long for them to make an arrest,” Steven’s brother Bryant Brannon said. Read more
A man implicated with two others for his role in a deadly, gang-related shootout that ended the life of Rayshawn Ransom in June 2013 pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery and is expected to be sentenced to 11 years in state prison.
Marquis Skillman
Marquis Skillman, 28, was charged along with West Ward gang members Alton Jones, 23, and Dyquise Leonard, 20, in connection with the June 12, 2013 fatal shooting death of Ransom, 19, who was gunned down while he sat in a car with friends on Passaic Street.
Authorities said Jones and Leonard were involved in an ongoing feud with a group of people who hailed from Passaic Street. The two groups met that day as part of an expected truce when Jones, Leonard and Skillman reportedly opened fire on three men, including Ransom who was seated in the car. Ransom’s friends were wounded in the shootout.
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Latin King gang members who testified against their leader couldn’t get his nickname right, let alone a story they gave prosecutors about how they carried out his orders to murder fellow gang members, the defendant said at a past trial.
Jose “Boom Bat” Negrete
A jury Thursday heard previous testimony of Jose “Boom Bat” Negrete, who is on trial a fourth time for ordering the murder of gang “queen” Jeri Lynn Dotson and a botched attempt on the life of gang turncoat Alex Ruiz.
In his previous testimony, Negrete said his nickname is “Boom Bap,” a moniker he earned as teenager by beating up a bully. Boom Bap are words that appear in cartoon sound clouds when Batman finishes his opponents, the defendant said.
But Negrete denied ordering his henchmen to “finish” Ruiz or Dotson after she witnessed several gang members lure her platonic roommate away from the Chestnut Street home they shared Aug. 30, 2004.
“I’m not a coward,” Negrete previously testified when asked by his former attorney if he ordered Dotson killed. “That’s some coward s–.” Read more
The murder weapon used in last year’s fatal shooting death of Enrico Smalley outside a violence-riddled city bar is linked with a separate homicide in Essex County and two shootings in Trenton, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Prosecutor said shell casings at those scenes ballistically matched ones recovered from La Guira Bar, where authorities say suspected killer Shaheed Brown
Police guard and process the crime scene outside of La Guira Bar where a man was shot and killed on Dec. 13, 2014. (Penny Ray - Trentonian)
opened fire July 12 on Smalley, striking him several times, including once in the head. Smalley was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Authorities have not recovered the murder weapon, Assistant Prosecutor Brian McCauley said, a critical piece of evidence that could be used to possibly tie Brown, 30, to the crimes.
For now, Brown, who pleaded not guilty and rejected a plea offer calling for a 45-year prison term for the murder of Smalley, has not been charged in the Essex murder or city shootings.
As a repeat offender, with convictions for aggravated assault and aggravated arson, Brown faces up to 60 years in prison if he is convicted of murder. He remains jailed on $1 million bail.
Brown was arrested in Newark in August for the death of Smalley who was found on the sidewalk outside of La Guira Bar, on the corner of Poplar Street and North Clinton Avenue. Brown was indicted in November on counts of first-degree murder and weapons offenses.
Prosecutors did not identify the murder victim in Essex County, which took place sometime after Smalley was gunned down. But McCauley said Brown was believed to be in Essex County around the time of the murder. An investigation is ongoing and he did not say whether authorities have enough evidence to pursue charges against Brown. A spokesperson for the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office was not able to provide further information Wednesday.
They came here to see testimony from witnesses implicating a Latin Kings leader for ordering the brutal 2004 murder of a gang “queen” and attempted murder of a gang turncoat.
But the troupe of high school students in attendance at Jose “Boom Bat” 
Negrete’s fourth murder trial was forced to settle for the disemboweled voice of Latin Kings gang member Rhadames “Havy” Acosta, played by a detective in the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office.
Detective Roberto Reyes took the stand once again Tuesday in place of Acosta, who last week said under the threat of contempt he would not testify against Negrete for ordering the execution-style murder of Jeri Lynn Dotson to ensure her silence after she witnessed several gang members lure gang turncoat Alex Ruiz from the Chestnut Avenue home they shared.
A city man already in jail and awaiting trial for a 2014 killing has been charged with murder in connection with another slaying that took place in Ewing in 2012.
Jared Littlejohn, 22, of Trenton, was gunned down and run over with his own vehicle in broad daylight on Sept. 27, 2012 on Parkside Avenue in Ewing, and authorities now say it was 29-year-old Markquice “Tank” Thomas who was responsible for the death.
Littlejohn was abducted from a Ewing supermarket and driven a short distance to the location on Parkside, where he was “assaulted and shot in the head,” according to a press release issued jointly Tuesday by the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office and the Ewing police.
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Jose “Boom Bat” Negrete’s fourth murder trial isn’t over, and his attorney already raised the specter of a fifth trial Thursday when he renewed concerns his client’s constitutional rights are being trampled so the state can get its so-far elusive conviction.
Safe to say those issues will form the basis of a future appeal attorney Jack Furlong will file on behalf of the Latin Kings leader, who is accused of ordering the 2004 murder of gang “queen” Jeri Lynn Dotson and botched murder attempt of gang turncoat Alex Ruiz.
Negrete has already had an 80-year sentence overturned by the appellate court because of jury misconduct.
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.
A convicted drug dealer accused in last month’s fatal shooting death of 25-year-old Taquan McNeil has been charged with an additional count of drug possession after prosecutors said he was found with drugs inside the county jail.
Naquan Green
Naquan Green, 26, allegedly shot McNeil three times during a botched drug deal Feb. 15 on the 100 block of Boudinot Street. Superior Court Judge Gerald Council did not impose bail on the new drug charges for Green, who is already being held in lieu of $1.1. million on the murder charge.
McNeil was found face-down in a snow bank and died a short time later after a bullet pierced both his lungs.
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Homicide Watch Trenton is a community-oriented news site sponsored by The Trentonian that aims to provide clear information about homicides and the tools necessary to record, report and share our experiences and losses within Trenton, NJ. Read more…
