Homicide Watch Trenton

Neal Crews

A pedestrian who was killed by a hit-and-run motorist earlier this month has been identified as 33-year-old Neal J. Crews, and police say an arrest is imminent.

Crews was hit by someone driving a white van near the intersection of Rusling and Liberty streets on the night of June 15.

Officials say the van was later found abandoned on Cummings Avenue, not too far from the accident scene.

Police say damage to the van was “consistent with the crash,” and that they have spoken to the owner of the vehicle who says someone else was driving it at the time of the accident.

The van's owner is cooperating with the investigation, according to police officials who say an arrest is "imminent."

Neal Crews is related to Tracy Crews, a convicted drug dealer and Bloods gang member who was murdered inside his Whittaker Avenue residence during a botched home invasion robbery in September 2008.

Officials say Neal had a tattoo on his right bicep in remembrance of his brother Tracy — also known as Looch — which cops used to help identify him after the fatal hit-and-run.

Neal also had a tattoo on his forearm that said, “I’d rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I’m not.”

Police say Neal's last known address was at the Rescue Mission on Carroll Street.

Struggling with the loss of another relative, the Crews family created a GoFundMe page seeking donations to help with funeral costs and arrangements.

"Neal didn’t have insurance but we want to make sure he has the proper burial," the fundraising page says.

A number of Neal's family and friends expressed their grief on social media.

"You was always like a son to me it hurts so much to realize you won't be here anymore," Barbara Portis wrote on Facebook. "I know you are in safe hands now Looch will watch over you."

When the driver of the van that hit Neal is apprehended, he or she will likely be charged with death by auto because they left the scene of a fatal accident.

According to the New Jersey State Police Uniform Crime Reporting Unit, vehicular homicides are considered manslaughter and are, therefore, not reported as a homicide statistic.

The Trentonian, however, includes death by auto and justifiable police shootings in its yearly homicide count.

So far this year, 11 people have been killed in the capital city, which includes Neal's death, the murder of a newborn found abandoned inside a city home and the death of Tahaij Wells, who was killed by police during a shootout at Art All Night last week.

Trentonian staff writer Isaac Avilucea contributed to this report.

A man who was shot and arrested by police lays outside the Roebling Wire Works. The man was identified by sources as "Dada" or Davone White. White was charged as one of the suspected shooters in the mass shooting at Art All Night on June 17, 2018. (Photo courtesy of Krystal Knapp - Planet Princeton.)

Davone “Dada” White, one of the suspected gunmen in the Art All Night shootout, is captured on grim footage bleeding in the streets after he was shot from behind by the police, witnesses told The Trentonian.

The witnesses said a Trenton cop shot a man they could only identify by the street name “Dada” at least three times as he ran from the Roebling Wire Works building following a wild 2:45 a.m. Father’s Day shootout. A source who knew the three suspected gunmen allegedly involved in the firefight confirmed Dada is White.

The cop then opened fire at least two more times on Dada while he lay on the ground bleeding, the witnesses said. But that action may be deemed justified, according to a police accountability expert interviewed by this newspaper.

A witness who spoke on condition of anonymity said she was sitting inside her gray Hyundai Elantra when the gunfire erupted. She said she was one of the people who witnessed the cop encounter with the man she identified as “Dada,” though she couldn’t confirm his real name.

“The cop was five steps behind him and he shot him. Boom, boom, boom. Three times. The boy fell to the ground. And the boy is screaming and crying. The cop ran around the boy. The boy was, like, squirming on the ground, like wiggling. The cop goes around him and shoots him again. Boom, boom. Two times. Then he put the handcuffs on him.”

The Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office wouldn’t say whether the man in the video sprawled out near the intersection of Dye and Genesee streets is White.

“All the injured parties have been identified. However, the specifics of which victim or suspect was where is not yet public information as the matter is still under investigation,” spokeswoman Kathleen Petrucci said.

White, 26, and Amir Armstrong, 23, are charged with weapons offenses in connection with the shootout, while a third suspect, Tahaij Wells, was killed by police during the melee.

White has several aliases, including Davone White-Smith, according to court records.

White’s relatives haven’t responded to multiple messages seeking comment.

Trenton Police Detectives Matthew Bledsoe, Michael Cipriano and Eliezer Ramos, as well as Officer Robert Furman remain on administrative leave, standard protocol following a police-involved shooting, while the prosecutor’s office investigates the police response to the shootout.

It’s unclear how many of the 17 people who suffered gunshot wounds were shot by the cops. But The Trentonian spoke to Ureena Gurley, a witness who says she is certain she was hit by a cop’s bullet.

Witnesses described seeing Dada fall to the ground and flop around after getting shot while the cop circled around Dada with his gun drawn and commanded him to stay on the ground and show his hands, before opening fire on him at least two more times while Dada lay on the ground.

No one saw Dada turn back or appear to point anything in the direction of the officer.

Video footage of the shooting’s aftermath recorded by witnesses show a Trenton cop straddle a gun recovered a few feet from Dada. The cop disarmed the gun and placed it in a side pocket of his cargo pants.

Rich Rivera, a former cop turned police accountability expert who reviewed the footage obtained by this newspaper, said the cop responded appropriately by pocketing the gun, but “it would have been good if he threw a dime or nickel on the spot.”

Witnesses questioned why the cop shot Dada while he was on the ground, but Rivera said, “Even if he’s shot in the back, it could be justified. If an individual posed a risk running into a crowd, they could. I do see a lot of hesitation initially.”

While Gov. Phil Murphy and Mercer County prosecutor Angelo Onofri have credited the police response to the shooting with saving lives, Rivera still questioned some of the cops’ actions on the tape, including a delay in getting Dada medical attention.

Witnesses wondered whether more could have been done to help Dada, who is reportedly still in bad shape. A woman said she spoke to relatives who relayed he had been shot at least five times.

Witness video shows it took around six and a half minutes before paramedics arrived with a stretcher to tend to the handcuffed Dada. His clothes were soaked in blood.

“It’s disturbing that no one tried to render medical assistance immediately,” Rivera said. “They should have done something other than stand around and do nothing.”

Rivera was also critical of Ramos, who struggled to handcuff another man he tackled to the ground. The cop yelled at the man he would “f--k you up” if he didn’t put his hands behind his back.

“That goes to the officer’s mindset,” the cop expert said. “He’s absolutely got adrenaline going and his sympathetic nervous system is firing. That doesn’t justify threatening someone that he’s going to ‘f--k him up’.”

Officials are still doing ballistics and reconstructing the shootout to determine how the gunfire unfolded, though Gurley seemed certain she was struck by officers as she tried to get back up to run.

“I still have a little bit of fragment in it,” Gurley said. “I was in a state of shock.”

Screengrab from a witness’s video of the chaos that erupted when shots were fired at Art All Night in Trenton.

TRENTON >> Authorities released body-camera footage and audio of 911 calls from the June 17 shootout at the Art All Night festival.
Officials said some of the footage was redacted to protect victims’ privacy.
At least three men were involved in the early-morning firefight that injured at least 22 people, including 17 who were hit by gunfire.
Amir Armstrong, 23, Davone “Dada” White, 26, and Tahaij Wells, were identified as the suspected gunmen in the mass shooting.
Wells was killed by police during the melee, and witnesses told The Trentonian that White also got shot from behind by the cops.
The shooting was fueled by feuding neighborhood factions, though officials haven’t identified who let off the first shot.
Investigators mapped out the shooting scene and are still sorting through ballistics to determine whether some bystanders were struck by cops’ fire as hundreds scrambled for the doors when gunfire erupted inside the Roebling Wire Works warehouse around 2:45 a.m. Father’s Day.
One of the videos shows several cops lifting up one of the suspected gunman wearing red shoes previously identified as Armstrong and carrying him to an awaiting police cruiser.
Cops were seen on the video walking inside the building after the shootout is over. A woman told one cop to back up pointing to shell casings on the ground as officers shined flashlights on the ground in parts of the building looking for more casings.
A man tells a gunshot victim on the ground to “just relax” as cops tended to him. The man worried about leaving behind his bike.
Witnesses reported before the shooting cops instructed festival-goers to get in the building or leave and packed people in “like sardines.”
The event was shut down early after scuffles ensued outside as one event organizer decried the “chaos” in video obtained by The Trentonian.
Trenton Detectives Eliezer Ramos, Matthew Bledsoe, Michael Cipriano and Officer Furman remain on administrative leave while the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office investigates their use of deadly force.
The last word from officials was that Armstrong and White remained hospitalized. Armstrong, who was shot in the head, was in critical but stable condition.
Prosecutors said no more information would be provided Wednesday but additional footage and details may be released at a later date.
This is a developing story

Screenshot of sercurity footage show people scrambling after the shooting at Art All Night in Trenton.

Screenshot of security footage shows people scrambling after the shooting at Art All Night in Trenton.

Footage that appears to be from the surveillance system at the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency shows people scattering in all directions as gunfire erupted in the early-morning hours of June 17 at the Art All Night festival.

The 17-second clip, released Friday by the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office, doesn’t show the shootout inside the Roebling Wire Works warehouse. But it does capture someone falling to the ground, in the middle of a scrum, after possibly being shot as others scrambled to safety.

The individual on the ground doesn’t appear to be one of the three suspects involved in the shootout.

Others were captured taking cover behind a Miller Lite trailer, as cops ran and took up tactical positions along the building.

The bird’s-eye surveillance appears to be from the building adjacent to the Wire Works warehouse and points toward Dye Street showing the outside of the warehouse and the parking lot.

The prosecutor’s office earlier in the week released several body-camera videos and 911 recordings from the mass shooting that injured at least 22 people, including 17 who suffered gunshot wounds.

Those videos also didn’t show the shooting, only the police response to the aftermath.

Two of the three suspects, Amir Armstrong and Davone White, have been charged with weapons offenses following the shootout. A third suspect, Tahaij Wells, was fatally shot by the police in the melee.

Tahaij Wells (left) and Amir Armstrong

Davone White

Wells was shown in body camera handcuffed on his stomach near the side of the Wire Works building, closest to the warehouse doors.

Body-camera footage showed cops carrying Armstrong, who was shot in the head, from inside the warehouse to an awaiting police SUV parked outside the Wire Works building.

More clips showed cops tending to gunshot victims as they swept through the massive complex securing the scene and get walking wounded to ambulances.

Emergency dispatchers were flooded by phones calls from people reporting the chaos.

“We need every ambulance available,” a dispatcher said on one of the transmissions. “The tally just keeps going up.”

The clips also showed White, who witnesses said was shot from behind by cops, sprawled out in the middle of the road near the intersection of Dye and Genesee streets.

Someone reported being carjacked in that area by an individual they believed was involved in the shootout, according to radio transmissions.

Authorities have said they were working to determine whether there was a connection to an attempted carjacking and the firefight.

A crashed car was found abandoned in an alley where police were called to secure and guard it, according to the radio transmissions.

Trenton Detectives Eliezer Ramos, Matthew Bledsoe, Michael Cipriano and Officer Robert Furman have been placed on administrative leave while the investigation continues.

Ramos, who is shown in witness video guarding the area where White lay in the street, is a member of the violent crimes unit.

Trenton Police’s specialized units don’t normally wear body cameras, only patrol officers.

A body cam worn by Furman showed him being escorted by Sgt. Jason Woodhead to the hospital. It’s unclear if the two other detectives on leave wore body cams during the shootout, which broke out as officials shut down the event following several altercations.

On the drive over, Woodhead and Furman discussed the police presence at the festival.

“Should have metal detectors out there,” Woodhead said.

“That’s what Cipriano was saying, like metal detectors on the entrace,” Furman responded.

“How you only hire four [officers]. I know you expect the city you’re in to [pitch in],” Woodhead said. “What the hell? I didn’t even know about it till I came in to work today. Not that anyone needed to tell me. But I’m just saying. They didn’t give anyone a heads up on anything. Should have prepared better.”

“It’s a huge thing,” Furman said. “You figure there’d be more than four people hired.”

“I been there where the crowd was way more unruly and a lot of fights,” Woodhead said. “But nothng like that. OK, let’s stop talking about it.”

Event organizers have faced questions over the decision to hire only four overtime Trenton cops as security for an event that has attracted tens of thousands of visitors every year.

Organizers stressed the Trenton cops were part of a security deployment that included four more Mercer County Sheriff’s officers and a security detail.

Police body-camera videos also showed people gathered outside of the trauma center at Capital Health Regional Medical Center, where Amir Armstrong’s mother pleaded with cops for information as they instructed people to back up while they roped off the front entrance with crime tape.

“I just want to make sure it’s not him,” the woman said.

The shootout stemmed from an ongoing feud between warring neighborhood factions, authorities said.

Prosecutors haven’t responded to several unaddressed questions from The Trentonian regarding whether investigators determined who opened fire first or which officers fatally shot Wells.

The Trentonian spoke to one witness who believed she got shot by police officers in the chaos, though officials haven’t confirmed if any of the 17 bystanders who were shot were struck by cops’ bullets.

A spokeswoman for prosecutor Angelo Onofri said in an email no other information would be provided Friday.

It’s definitely summer in the capital city as Trenton mourns the death of yet another teenage murder victim.

Tashaughn Robinson, 17, was found unresponsive with multiple gunshot wounds to his body about 9:20 p.m. Friday on the 600 block of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, getting gunned down just a short walk away from his Bond Street residence.

Trenton camp counselor Tashaughn Robinson (left) was shot and killed Friday, June 22, 2018. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)

“He was a good kid,” a city man said Saturday afternoon of Robinson.

Down the street, a nearby makeshift memorial paid respects to the city’s latest homicide victim. The white cloth tied around a MLK Boulevard fence expressed “Rest in Peace” messages in Robinson’s memory as candles burned on the sidewalk.

“It takes a village to raise a child,” reads one of the messages on the memorial cloth. “You mentored my son. I’ll forever have a special place in my heart for you.”

Robinson’s death capped off a deadly, solemn week that began with a mass shooting at the Art All Night festival.

This makeshift memorial in honor of Tashaughn Robinson was displayed on the 600 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard near Bond Street in Trenton on Saturday, June 23, 2018. (SULAIMAN ABDUR-RAHMAN - The Trentonian)

Trenton Police responded about 9:20 p.m. Friday to the scene upon getting a report of shots fired and quickly discovered Robinson’s unresponsive body. The teen victim was rushed to Capital Health Regional Medical Center, where he was ultimately pronounced dead about 9:35 p.m. or 15 minutes after the gun violence erupted, according to the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office.

The teenager appears to have been killed in a drive-by shootout. Police sources who spoke on condition of anonymity believe the victim in the shooting actually returned fire. It was unclear whether the victim in the car was struck by retaliatory gunfire, and no other injuries were reported in the incident.

On Saturday afternoon, Robinson’s family and friends gathered on Bond Street to mourn his death in addition to residents grieving along MLK Boulevard where the shooting occurred.

Robinson was described as a “good kid” and “hard worker,” with residents saying he served as a local youth mentor and camp counselor.

One woman remembered him for his sense of humor and said Robinson was trying to better himself.

“He was like another son to me,” she said of Robinson. “He was a sweetheart. He was a comedian slash role model. He was a good person. Anybody who knows him knew he was special.”

Robinson recently got his driver’s license and was enjoying his new privileges on the road days before the fatal shooting, according to neighborhood residents who said they heard the Friday night gunshots.

Homicide detectives about 1:45 p.m. Saturday were canvassing MLK Boulevard hoping to get access to any potential surveillance footage of the murder.

Despite the street being named after the great civil rights icon who had advocated nonviolent resistance to injustice, MLK Boulevard stretches across a particularly depressed part of the North Ward that is known for shootings and criminal mayhem. That is the environment in which Robinson lived and where he died, the victim of hard circumstances in this era of escalating gun violence.

“Senseless,” one man said Saturday of the shooting that killed Robinson, whom he described as a “good kid.”

“It’s important that this summer not be a summer of escalating violence but of one of transformation and hope for the city,” Trenton Mayor-elect Reed Gusciora said Saturday in an interview with The Trentonian. “I’ve said it before, but public safety has to be Job One and unless parents know that even the pools are safe, I doubt they’ll send their kids to the pools, so we have to make sure that every neighborhood in this city is safe and secure, and I’ll be working with police to try to make that happen.”

Gusciora gets sworn into office July 1 and will have his work cut out for him.

The capital city was thrust into national headlines to start the week when a shootout erupted inside a warehouse at the Art All Night celebration in the Roebling Market section of the city.

Authorities said it was too early to know whether Friday’s murder is related to last Sunday’s melee, which resulted in police killing 32-year-old Tahaij Wells as he and other gunmen exchanged fire with a crowd of people running for their lives around them.

A 13-year-old boy was initially hospitalized in extremely critical condition in the Art All Night shooting, which also wounded alleged gunmen Amir Armstrong, 23, and Davone White, 26, who have both been charged with weapons offenses in the incident.

Several Trenton teenagers have gotten shot and killed in recent years, bringing continued shock and outrage to the 7.5-square-mile capital city. Convicted murderer Peter Charles Jr., 19, got convicted earlier this month for slaying 16-year-old Ciony Kirkman in a brazen April 2016 shooting in the city’s South Ward.

“It’s sad that this generation feels that they can resolve their conflicts with guns and violence,” Gusciora said Saturday. “We have to transform the dialogue in the city, and I will be working from Day One, but public safety is going to be a priority.”

In terms of the Friday night shooting that killed Robinson, the Mercer County Homicide Task Force is investigating his violent death. No arrests have been reported in the case as of Saturday afternoon. Anyone with information is asked to call police at (609) 989-6406.

Trentonian staff writer Penny Ray contributed to this report.

Top l to r: Lakeisha Hill, Shaquille McNeil, Tashawn Santiago
bottom l to r: Cecil Blake, Felicita Gee, Fantasia Gee
Photos provided by Mercer County Prosecutors Office

Six people were indicted for their alleged involvement in the double murder of an aspiring rapper and his friend that also injured a third person, authorities said.

Lakeisha Hill, 29, Shaquille McNeil, 24, Tashawn Santiago, 25, and Cecil Blake, 31, were each hit with charges of murder, attempted murder and weapons offenses.

Felicita Gee, 43, and Fantasia Gee, 24, were indicted on charges of hindering apprehension and giving false information to cops.

Hill and Santiago were indicted on the same charges, the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office said, as part of a 14-count indictment handed up by a grand jury this week.

The double murder of Philadelphia rapper Elmii Problema, whose real name is Jerard Perdomo-Santana, and his friend, 19-year-old Ivan Rodriguez, happened the afternoon of Jan. 22, near Washington Street and Ashmore Avenue.

Philadelphia rapper Elmii Problema, whose real name was Jerard Perdomo-Santana, (left) and Ivan Rodriguez.

He and Rodriguez were found shot inside an idling black Ford Taurus riddled with bullets. Both men were taken to the hospital where they later died.

A 29-year-old man injured in the gunfire drove himself to the hospital suffering from a gunshot wound to the shoulder and the hand.

One of the murder suspects, Blake, survived being blasted five times in the chest April 6 on the 100 block of Monmouth Street.

Officials haven’t said whether there’s a link between Blake’s assassination attempt and his role in the double murder.

Blake has convictions for reckless manslaughter and gun-toting, court records show.

He pleaded guilty to shooting and killing Samuel Hardwick in 2007 in a plea deal with prosecutors that called for five years in prison and allowed codefendants James Deonte James and David Kennedy to walk.

Blake was also nabbed by cops in March on a number of drug charges for allegedly dealing cocaine. He was found with 105 grams of cocaine and $257 in cash, cops said.

On Jan. 12, Perdomo-Santana, who released his debut mixtape Maxima Seguridad last year, posted a Facebook live video of him and Rodriguez driving around in a car together, listening to music.

He posted a similar video on the morning he died.

TRENTON >> A mentally ill man has been indicted in the death of a fellow Ann Klein Forensic Center patient who was beaten so badly he suffered a brain bleed and a fractured skull, authorities said.

The Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office announced the indictment of 51-year-old Dwayne Hester on the charge of aggravated manslaughter in the intentional and unprovoked Feb. 13 attack at the Trenton facility of 55-year-old Daniel Rodriguez.

Hester had already been charged with aggravated assault with intent to cause serious bodily injury in the attack following an investigation by New Jersey State Police Trooper Jared Boyd, who filed the charge Feb. 22.

Hester was indicted on the stiffer charges this week, accused of bludgeoning Rodriguez with his fists and knocking him to the ground which caused him to hit his head and fracture his skull, prosecutors outlined.

Rodriguez died from his injuries about a month later, on March 20, prosecutors said.

The case was presented Thursday to the grand jury which returned an indictment charging a single count of first-degree aggravated assault, for which Hester faces up to 20 years in state prison if he’s convicted.

Hester, originally from Newark, was a patient at Ann Klein classified as a paranoid schizophrenic. He has three prior aggravated assault convictions for attacks that occurred in the 1980s and ’90s, court documents show.

Ann Klein Forensic Center, a state-run facility, provides care and treatment for 199 clients suffering from mental illness who are determined by the courts to be “not guilty by reason of insanity” or “incompetent to stand trial” or who require special security measures due to the nature of their illness, according to the state’s mental health division.

Hester and Rodriguez were both residing as patients at the facility, which is known to have documented incidents of violence against staff members and against patients every year.

Surveillance footage showed Hester approaching Rodriguez and striking him from the back with a closed fist to the head, subsequently knocking him unconscious, Trooper Boyd alleged in his affidavit.

“Hester subsequently provided a post-Miranda admission stating that he intentionally attacked for no apparent reason.”

Trentonian reporter Sulaiman Abdur-Rahman contributed to this report

Convicted murderer Mada Eoff has been sentenced to 38 years of state incarceration for shooting and killing 19-year-old Lance Beckett in September 2016.

Lance Beckett (Facebook photo)

“Thirty years is real time,” Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Tim Ward told The Trentonian on Friday, “and that is what he is going to serve before he is eligible for parole.”

Eoff was 17 when he murdered the victim in cold blood. He turned 19 last week.

Mercer County Superior Court Judge Robert Billmeier sentenced Eoff on Friday to 38 years of incarceration and ordered him to serve 85 percent of the sentence behind bars before becoming eligible for parole.

Eoff murdered Beckett during the afternoon of Sept. 18, 2016, with Trenton Police arriving on the scene about 2:50 p.m. to discover the victim lying face down in the grass along East Stuyvesant Avenue in the capital city. One shot struck Beckett in the neck, another shot struck him in the left shoulder and the kill shot entered through his back and exited through his chest, and he was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.

Police arrested Eoff several days after the slaying. He was initially prosecuted as a 17-year-old juvenile, but authorities waived him up to adult court in April 2017 and placed him on pretrial detention.

At the murder trial on Jan. 25, a jury delivered a mixed-verdict finding Eoff guilty of first-degree murder but not guilty of second-degree gun possession charges. The defense filed a motion seeking a judgment of acquittal in response to the mixed-verdict, but the trial judge sided with the prosecution and upheld the murder conviction.

A grand jury originally indicted three co-defendants on first-degree murder charges in the slaying of Beckett. Eoff took his case to trial and lost, but the other two co-defendants pleaded guilty for their roles in the slaying and received lighter punishments.

Omar Kennedy, 36, of Trenton, is serving a three-year prison sentence at the Central Reception and Assignment Facility in Ewing for confessing to third-degree aggravated assault in the homicide case. He is scheduled to be released on June 3, 2019, according to the New Jersey Department of Corrections.

Quashawn Emanuel, 20, is serving out an eight-year prison sentence at the Albert C. Wagner Youth Correctional Facility in Chesterfield for pleading guilty to second-degree reckless manslaughter in the slaying of Beckett. He is scheduled to be released on July 10, 2023, according to DOC records.

With the case being closed, Ward said he hopes the victim’s family can heal.

“It is my hope that they can continue to move forward and do their best to heal,” he said Friday in an interview with The Trentonian. “At least they don’t have to worry about coming to court anymore.”

“You could never get closure for something like this,” Ward said, “but the criminal process is coming to an end with the sentencing.”

With Eoff receiving almost two years of jail credit, he must serve about 30 years in the slammer before becoming eligible for parole under his 38-year prison sentence pursuant to New Jersey’s No Early Release Act.

“I thought it was a very fair and reasonable sentence,” Ward said. “Because the defendant was a juvenile when he committed the crime, he is going to be treated differently under the law than if he were an adult. With the sentence he got, he won’t be eligible for parole until he is in his 50s, so I think that is fair given the circumstances.”

“Thirty years is real time,” Ward added, “and that is what he is going to serve before he is eligible for parole.”

Despite being convicted of murder, Eoff maintains his innocence and will likely file an appeal with the New Jersey Judiciary’s Appellate Division.

Three murder trials are heating up in the Mercer County Criminal Courthouse.

Alberto Lopez, 21, of Trenton, is finally having his day in court after being arrested nearly five years ago and held on $750,000 cash bail on murder charges.

Lopez was 16 when he shot 17-year-old Shamere Melvin in the head during a botched robbery on the 300 block of North Clinton Avenue in Trenton’s North Ward Dec. 18, 2013, prosecutors said. The victim died from his injuries and police arrested Lopez the following day.

Facing prosecution as an adult, Lopez’s murder trial commenced this week before Mercer County Superior Court Judge Robert Billmeier.

Public defender Jason C. Matey is representing Lopez, who has been indicted on five criminal charges that include first-degree murder, first-degree murder during the commission of a crime, first-degree armed robbery, second-degree possession of a firearm for unlawful purposes, and second-degree unlawful possession of a handgun. Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Grillo is prosecuting the case on behalf of the state.

Anthony L. Concepcion hopes to get acquitted in his city murder trial, which is getting underway before Mercer County Superior Court Judge Darlene Pereksta.

Anthony Concepcion

Concepcion, 26, of Trenton, was out on bail on a gun charge when he allegedly shot and killed 39-year-old Patrick Walker outside of La Guira Bar on Dec. 13, 2014. Police arrested Concepcion Jan. 6, 2015, in connection with the homicide. An indictment eventually charged him with first-degree murder, second-degree possession of a firearm for unlawful purposes, and second-degree unlawful possession of a handgun.

Public defender Jessica Lyons is representing Concepcion, a convicted felon already serving time in state prison for pleading guilty to unlawful possession of a handgun. He illegally possessed a handgun in Trenton on Sept. 30, 2014, getting promptly arrested for the offense. He posted $50,000 cash bail on Oct. 22, 2014, buying his way out of jail only to get re-arrested several weeks later on murder charges, according to court records.

Concepcion’s bail was set at $750,000 full bond or cash in the homicide case, but he remains in DOC custody as a self-confessed gunman while his murder case revs up. Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Michelle Gasparian is prosecuting Concepcion in the murder case. The defendant faces 30 years to life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder. Concepcion is currently scheduled to be released from South Woods State Prison on March 20, 2019.

Carlos Ortiz, 52, of Ewing, is currently on trial on charges he murdered his girlfriend at their township residence nearly two years ago.

Ortiz got into an argument with 51-year-old Rufina Castro, bludgeoned her with a Corona beer bottle, wrapped a phone cord charger around her neck and strangled her to death inside their township home on the 300 block of Ewingville Road on Aug. 16, 2016, prosecutors alleged. He fled the home in a Ford Explorer after stacking clothes and blankets on top of his deceased girlfriend, prosecutors said.

Castro’s body was discovered one day later, Aug. 17, 2016, after police were called to the residence about 3 a.m. for a welfare check. Officers found her body in the bedroom. Police later that day found Ortiz’s SUV outside of a hotel in Belleville and arrested him, according to the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office. He could serve 30 years to life in prison if convicted on the heaviest charges.

A grand jury indicted Ortiz last summer on seven counts, including first-degree purposeful murder, second-degree aggravated assault, two counts of third-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, two counts of fourth-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, and third-degree theft by unlawful taking of movable property.

Public defender Amber Forrester is representing Ortiz, who is being prosecuted by Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Sean McMurtry in a trial by jury before Mercer County Superior Court Judge Anthony Massi.

Ortiz, who previously served time in jail and state prison for committing a July 2010 robbery in Bayonne and distributing drugs in Jersey City in July 2009, has been held on $1 million cash bail since his arrest on Aug. 17, 2016.

Kenneth McRae

A Burlington man was killed late Saturday night in a head-on crash on Route 29.

Kenneth McRae, 31, died after the crash, which sent three other people to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, including city resident Henry Arevalo-Martinez who has been charged with vehicular homicide.

“It hasn’t been determined yet, but somehow the suspect got on Route 29 going the wrong direction, which caused the head-on crash,” TPD Lt. Darren Zappley said. “Alcohol was probably a contributing factor.”

Officials say the preliminary investigation revealed that McRae and two passengers were in a Volkswagen Passat traveling northbound around 11:45 p.m. when they collided with a 2002 Ford Explorer being driven by Arevalo-Martinez, headed south in the northbound lane.

Police say several witnesses saw the crash and stopped to help the victims.

One of the passengers in McRae’s car suffered multiple fractures and remains hospitalized in stable condition. The other passenger complained of pain and was admitted into the hospital for observation.

Arevalo-Martinez, 40, suffered a broken hip.

According to the New Jersey State Police Uniform Crime Reporting Unit, vehicular homicides are considered manslaughter and are, therefore, not reported as a homicide statistic.

The Trentonian, however, includes death by auto and justifiable police shootings in its yearly homicide count.

So far this year, 12 people have been killed in the capital city.

Two eyewitnesses watched as Alberto “Choppy” Lopez murdered 17-year-old Shamere Melvin with a single gunshot to the head, the prosecution alleged Tuesday in closing arguments.

But Nicole Carlo, a defense attorney representing Lopez, said the eyewitnesses are “not credible,” suggesting the witnesses either had “distorted memories” or were intentionally lying under oath to avoid implicating themselves in the December 2013 robbery-turned-homicide.

With the defense and prosecution delivering closing arguments Tuesday, Lopez’s fate rests in the hands of a jury that will decide whether he is guilty or not guilty of murder, robbery and weapons offenses in the drug-related slaying that occurred in Trenton’s North Ward nearly five years ago.

Lopez, 21, of Trenton, is accused of shooting and killing Melvin with a handgun about 8:40 p.m. Dec. 18, 2013. The incident occurred on the 300 block of North Clinton Avenue near Trenton Police headquarters.

“Shamere Melvin deserves justice,” Carlo said, “but not at the expense of a wrongfully accused man.”

Lopez was just “16 years old and living in Trenton” when police arrested him on the most serious of charges one day after the slaying, Carlo added.

On the day of the murder, Lopez was plotting to rob a drug dealer of marijuana, Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Grillo said Tuesday. Lopez ultimately selected Melvin as his victim, isolated him on North Clinton Avenue, pointed a handgun at him and demanded pot before firing a single gunshot into Melvin’s forehead. Then Lopez rummaged through the victim’s pockets for 2 ounces of weed and fled from the scene, Grillo alleged.

The Mercer County Criminal Courthouse in Trenton.

“It is not disputed that the defendant was there for marijuana,” Grillo said. “The only purpose of firing a handgun into someone’s head is to kill him.” Then he showed the jurors a photo depicting Melvin’s dead body, gunshot wound and all. The graphic image caused a minor uproar in the courtroom, bringing at least one woman to tears and causing her to exit out into the hallway.

Two eyewitnesses testified in Lopez’s murder trial, both of whom accused Lopez of shooting and killing Melvin in cold blood. “They were forced to witness a killing,” Grillo said, “forced to shoulder the weight of securing justice for Shamere Melvin.”

Grillo suggested the eyewitnesses were brave for cooperating with the state in exchange for nothing other than the “satisfaction they told the truth.” He said witnesses oftentimes do not cooperate with police for fear of retaliation.

Carlo, a public defender, bashed the credibility of the witnesses, describing them as young suburbanites with close ties to drug peddlers and suggesting they knew more about the murder than they were willing to admit. She said her client was “wrongfully accused because there was a rush to judgment, a rush to judgment by police.”

Grillo defended the credibility of the eyewitnesses, saying their testimony was corroborated by other evidence in the case, including the fact that the witnesses have personally known Lopez for years and circumstantial evidence in the form of recovered text messages suggesting Lopez had a criminal state of mind on the date of the murder.

In addition to Carlo, public defender Jason C. Matey is also representing Lopez, who has been indicted on five criminal charges that include first-degree murder, first-degree felony murder during the commission of a crime, first-degree armed robbery, second-degree possession of a firearm for unlawful purposes, and second-degree unlawful possession of a handgun.

Mercer County Superior Court Judge Robert Billmeier on Tuesday afternoon was delivering instructions to the jury, which will be tasked with the duty of rendering a verdict on each of the five counts.

All 12 jurors must be firmly convinced of the defendant’s guilt to convict him.

Alberto “Choppy” Lopez has been found guilty on all counts in the murder of 17-year-old Shamere Melvin.

A jury on Thursday handed down the sweeping verdict, convicting Lopez of being the armed robber who shot and killed Melvin in the streets of Trenton nearly five years ago.

Lopez, 21, of Trenton, pointed a handgun at Melvin and fired a single shot into the victim’s forehead about 8:40 p.m. Dec. 18, 2013. The incident occurred on the 300 block of North Clinton Avenue near Trenton Police headquarters back when Lopez was 16. Cops arrested him the following day.

After years of being prosecuted as an adult, Lopez took his case to trial and lost. A jury of his peers convicted him of first-degree murder, first-degree felony murder during the commission of a crime, first-degree armed robbery, second-degree possession of a firearm for unlawful purposes, and second-degree unlawful possession of a handgun. He faces 30 years to life in prison but will likely get sentenced to something on the lower end of the scale due to him committing the murder as a juvenile.

On the day of the murder, Lopez was plotting to rob a drug dealer of marijuana, Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Grillo said earlier this week in closing arguments. Lopez ultimately selected Melvin as his victim, isolated him on North Clinton Avenue, pointed a handgun at him and demanded pot before firing a single gunshot into Melvin’s forehead. Then Lopez rummaged through the victim’s pockets for 2 ounces of weed and fled from the scene, Grillo said.

“It is not disputed that the defendant was there for marijuana,” Grillo said. “The only purpose of firing a handgun into someone’s head is to kill him.”

Two eyewitnesses testified in Lopez’s murder trial, both of whom identified Lopez as the gunman who shot and killed Melvin in cold blood. “They were forced to witness a killing,” Grillo said of the witnesses in his closing arguments, “forced to shoulder the weight of securing justice for Shamere Melvin.”

Lopez’s public defender, Nicole Carlo, argued that her client was “wrongfully accused because there was a rush to judgment, a rush to judgment by police.” The jury unanimously disagreed with her closing arguments.

After the verdict came down, Grillo told The Trentonian he was “thrilled with the jury’s verdict” and “very happy for Shamere’s family. It has been a long, difficult road for them and it feels like they can finally have a chance moving past this a little bit after having to spend five years having to continue coming to court and deal with the possibility there may not be justice for Shamere Melvin.”

But the jury delivered justice on Thursday by convicting Lopez on all counts in a case that did not feature any physical evidence — no murder weapon was recovered, no surveillance video captured the incident and authorities found no DNA or fingerprints linking Lopez to the murder.

The case primarily boiled down to two eyewitnesses who saw Lopez committing the grisly crime.

“It is very satisfying to know the jury is willing to accept the testimony of eyewitnesses even in the absence of forensic and video evidence,” Grillo said Thursday in his interview with The Trentonian. “It is not an exaggeration to say there was no physical evidence at all.”

The cooperating witnesses in this case were not jailbirds. They were not criminals seeking favors or leniency. “They were just straight-up eyewitnesses,” Grillo said Thursday, “who got nothing in exchange for what they did.”

Mercer County Superior Court Judge Robert Billmeier will sentence the convicted murderer at a future date tentatively set for October. Lopez, of course, has the right to file an appeal with the New Jersey Superior Court’s Appellate Division.

An early morning shooting in Trenton’s West Ward killed one resident and left another man hospitalized in unknown condition.

Michael Monroe, 31, of Rutherford Avenue, was pronounced dead about 12:40 a.m. Saturday after suffering multiple gunshot wounds on the 100 block of Hoffman Avenue, according to the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office.

The second victim, a 27-year-old city man, suffered a gunshot wound in the incident and was being treated Saturday at Capital Health Regional Medical Center, authorities said.

Kathleen Petrucci of the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office released few details about the incident via email sent about 6:40 p.m. Saturday. The shooting occurred about 12:13 a.m., she said.

Trenton Police responded to a report of shots fired and found both gunshot victims at the scene. Both victims were rushed to the trauma center. Monroe was pronounced dead at the hospital about 25 minutes after the shooting, according to the prosecutor’s office.

The Mercer County Homicide Task Force is investigating the murder, which occurred about eight hours after a wild shootout in the area of Passaic and Calhoun streets injured a city teenager, who suffered gunshot wounds to the leg. Trenton Police said one adult has been arrested on gun charges in connection with the late Friday afternoon shooting.

No arrests have been announced in Saturday’s West Ward slaying as of press time. Authorities have not released any suspect descriptions at this time.

Anyone with information about the fatal shooting is urged to contact the Mercer County Homicide Task Force at (609) 989-6406.

Anthony Concepcion

State prisoner Anthony L. Concepcion remains in the custody of New Jersey Department of Corrections after his murder trial ended last week without resolution.

Concepcion, 26, of Trenton, is a self-confessed gunman serving a five-year prison sentence at South Woods State Prison while fighting Mercer County prosecutors in another case accusing him of shooting and killing 39-year-old Patrick Walker in 2014.

Concepcion had his day in court earlier this month, but his legal proceeding ended in a mistrial last Thursday due to a snafu involving the jury’s failure to follow instructions.

“The issue was related to deliberations being conducted by jurors outside of the presence of the entire jury,” Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office spokeswoman Casey DeBlasio said Tuesday in an email explaining why Judge Darlene Pereksta granted the defense’s motion for a mistrial.

In any trial by jury, a judge always gives strict instructions to each juror, including guidance that the jury shall not deliberate until and unless all 12 jury members are present in the jury room. The jury violated that instruction in Concepcion’s murder trial, prompting public defender Jessica Lyons to move for a mistrial with the state consenting to the motion, DeBlasio confirmed.

“The next court date is scheduled for Sept. 17,” DeBlasio said, “and the state is prepared to retry the case. It will be assigned to another assistant prosecutor as Michelle Gasparian is leaving the office for another job opportunity.”

Gasparian, who has served as a distinguished Mercer County prosecutor for the last 20 years, winning a huge murder conviction last year in the 2011 body-in-the-trunk execution case against killer Danuweli Keller, was prosecuting Concepcion with her trademark methodical approach before his trial ended on a technicality last week.

The prosecutor’s office did not elaborate on Gasparian’s future job opportunity, but sources say she will be joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office. She was previously cross-designated to the U.S. Attorney’s Office and worked with federal prosecutors in the past to win convictions against Bloods street gang members involved in a massive drug ring in Trenton.

Concepcion is accused of shooting and killing Patrick Walker outside of Trenton’s La Guira Bar on Dec. 13, 2014. Police arrested Concepcion Jan. 6, 2015, in connection with the homicide. An indictment eventually charged him with first-degree murder, second-degree possession of a firearm for unlawful purposes, and second-degree unlawful possession of a handgun.

Patrick Walker

The defendant was known to be armed and dangerous. Concepcion illegally possessed a handgun in Trenton on Sept. 30, 2014, and promptly got arrested for the offense. He posted $50,000 cash bail on Oct. 22, 2014, buying his way out of jail only to get re-arrested several weeks later on murder charges, according to court records.

Concepcion maintains his presumption of innocence in the murder case but admits to being in unlawful possession of a handgun in the September 2014 weapons case. A judge sentenced him to five years of state incarceration last year. He is currently scheduled to be released from DOC custody March 14, 2019, and faces 30 years to life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder.

Trenton Police headquarters

The wife of a man who was shot and killed by an off-duty cop two years ago has filed a civil lawsuit against the city and the police department.

Kristi Williams, identified in court documents as the widow of Alfred Toe, filed a wrongful death lawsuit alleging that TPD Officer Sheehan Miles drank alcohol and “possibly” smoked marijuana prior to shooting Toe in the chest on August 27, 2016.

Most of the information contained in the lawsuit aligns with what law enforcement officials previously told the press, except for two key matters: the suit claims that there was no physical contact nor struggle between Toe and Miles prior to the gun discharging, and alleges that Miles was intoxicated at the time of the fatal encounter.

Toe, 34, was shot and killed around 9:50 p.m. that night while attending a post-funeral gathering in the 500 block of Roosevelt Street. The lawsuit says Toe started arguing with someone else at the event and grabbed a gun out of his brother Constantine’s car. Constantine then confronted Alfred, documents state, which sparked a struggle during which time the gun “accidentally” fired, with a bullet striking Constantine’s hand.

The lawsuit says Constantine had the situation under control and had retrieved the weapon from Alfred before Miles, who was also an attendee at the post-funeral gathering, approached them.

According to the deadly force report issued by the county prosecutor’s office, Miles ordered Constantine onto the ground and confiscated the handgun he took from his brother. The officer was then holding both handguns, prosecutors say, when Alfred tried to grab one of the weapons from him. The report says “several witnesses” told law enforcement that Toe ignored commands to stand down, and that Miles actually punched Toe to create distance between the two of them.

However, Alfred continued to disregard verbal commands and “persisted in his attempt to disarm” the cop, according to the prosecutor’s report, which says Miles “felt that he was losing his grip on the loaded firearm and fired one round,” striking Alfred in the chest.

The lawsuit, however, disputes that account and claims Miles shot Alfred while telling him to “stand back” away from his brother, whom was on the ground being arrested.

“Miles did not even finish the phrase when his weapon discharged and he shot Alfred Toe,” the lawsuit alleges. “There was no struggle between Miles and Alfred Toe.”

The suit says Toe was at least five feet away from Miles when he was shot in the chest, and that law enforcement conspired to cover up what truly happened that night by not testing the cop for alcohol and marijuana.

The county prosecutor’s office officially concluded that Miles was legally justified in using deadly force, as “he was acting to protect himself and others from imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm.”

The report says that conclusion is based on statements from officers and witnesses, radio transmissions, body camera footage, photographs and physical evidence gathered at the scene.

The Attorney General’s Office reviewed the prosecutor’s investigation and agreed with the conclusion of justified deadly force, therefore the case was never presented to a grand jury.

Miles has since returned to the streets.

TPD and the prosecutor's office declined to comment on pending litigation.

Toe's widow is being represented by attorney Patrick Whalen.