A co-defendant charged in connection with the 2014 homicide of Julio Cesar Cruz has been sentenced to seven years of imprisonment for robbing the victim while the other defendant in the case is currently incarcerated in state prison for causing the man’s death. Dante Martin, 22, was originally charged with murder during the commission of …
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Recent court sentencings in Trenton show that trial-by-jury convictions generally lead to significantly more prison time than negotiating a guilty plea. Dante Alexander, 33, of Trenton, this week received 50 years of imprisonment for shooting and killing 26-year-old Brandon Nance outside a city bakery in 2013. He pleaded not guilty in the case and took …
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The two men who beat Julio Cesar Cruz Cruz to death in February 2014 during a robbery wore a green jacket and a black jacket, witnesses told police. A detective said the witnesses were partially right. The clothing was a critical point of contention at a pretrial hearing Wednesday for Michael Holman, one of the …
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A status hearing Monday for one of two men accused in the brutal beating death of a Guatemalan immigrant took an unexpected turn when the judge stepped off the bench and summoned one of his sheriff’s officers to a sidebar. When Superior Court Judge Robert Billmeier returned to the bench, he said he was concerned …
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One of two men charged with felony murder for the brutal beating death of a Guatemalan immigrant was offered a plea deal that calls for a 25-year sentence. Under the terms of the deal, Michael Holman, 19, of Trenton, would plead guilty to counts of aggravated manslaughter and aggravated assault. He would be required to …
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Two city men have been indicted in connection with the murder of 18-year-old Julio Cesar Cruz. On the evening of Feb. 15, Cruz was returning home from a shopping trip with groceries in hand when two people tried to rob him. The incident occurred in the first block of Rusling Street, and according to prosecutors …
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By CARLOS AVILIA cavila@trentonian.com Michael Holman and Dante Martin, both 18-year-olds from Trenton, were charged with first-degree felony murder and robbery Thursday in the beating death of Julio Cesar Cruz. The Mercer County Prosecutor Joseph Bocchini Jr. and Trenton Police Director Ralph Rivera Jr., among other county and state authorities, announced the arrests in connection …
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BY CARLOS AVILA cavila@trentonian.com On an unusually warm Saturday evening, Julio Cesar Cruz was laid to rest at Chiaccho Funeral Home in Trenton’s South Ward as hundreds of community members came to say farewell to the slain teen. Last week Cruz, 19, was beaten to death in front of his Rusling Street home while returning …
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By Carlos Avila, The Trentonian Saturday’s killing of 18-year old Julio Cesar Cruz in Trenton’s Chambersburg section has garnered national attention as the details of the incident continue to emerge. According to his roommates, at around 6:30 p.m., Cruz went to a bakery on Whittaker Avenue to buy his take-out dinner. Twenty minutes later as …
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By Carlos Avila, The Trentonian Julio Cesar Cruz, a resident of Trenton’s South Ward was beaten to death Saturday evening. According to witnesses, the 18-year old native of San Marcos, Guatemala, suffered traumatizing blows to his body and head which caused him to lose consciousness and fall to the ground banging his head on the …
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An 18-year-old city man walking home in the heart of the city’s Chambersburg section was the victim of an apparent robbery gone wrong, authorities said. The victim, identified by the authorities as 18-year-old Julio Lopez-Cruz (according to birth records obtained by The Trentonian he is ID’d as Julio Cesar Cruz) was returning home from a …
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