TRENTON >> Jurors began deliberations in the fourth murder trial of Latin Kings leader Jose Negrete but broke for the day without reaching a verdict.
The 12-member panel, which will decide whether it believes Negrete ordered the 2004 murder of gang “queen” Jeri Lynn Dotson and botched murder attempt on gang turncoat Alex Ruiz, was handed the case Tuesday after being charged on the law.
Jose “Boom Bat” Negrete
Judge Pedro Jimenez’s courtroom was devoid of any action for much of the day. Members of Negrete’s family were perched outside the courtroom for part of the day waiting for any indication of a verdict, but it never came. Jimenez dismissed jurors around 4 p.m. and ordered them to return to court Wednesday morning to resume deliberations.
Prosecutors have tried in vain for more than a decade to convict Negrete, who was portrayed at trial as a ruthless leader whose primary goal was to grow the Trenton tribe of the Latin Kings from a feeble, loosely associated organization into a feared street gang.
Prosecutors said he did that by striking fear in his members, pointing to a time some time before the murder when Negrete flashed a silver handgun at Latin Kings member Joey Martinez after he had disassociated himself from the gang. Negrete allegedly told Martinez to “get down or lay down.”
Prosecutors also painted Negrete as a fierce recruiter, saying he was the one who initiated Ruiz, a former rival Netas member, into the Latin Kings.
When that triggered a war between the rival gangs, Negrete ordered Ruiz handed over to the Netas to quash the violence. But prosecutors said Negrete was enraged when the Netas didn’t kill Ruiz, in part because his brother was a Netas gang member, and ordered his henchmen to finish him.
Negrete allegedly ordered Dotson killed because she was a “security risk” who was believed to be feeding information to the cops or Netas and couldn’t be trusted to keep quiet after she witnessed the Aug. 30, 2004 abduction of Ruiz from the Chestnut Street home they shared.
Negrete’s first trial in 2008 ended in a hung jury. Another trial was scrapped following jury selection while a jury in 2009 convicted him of conspiracy, murder and attempted murder. Negrete’s 80-year sentence was ultimately overturned because of jury misconduct.