Suspect in Newark slayings allegedly had violent past

Suspect in Newark slayings allegedly had violent past - Breaking News From New Jersey - NJ.com

by Jonathan Schuppe and Claire Heininger

Thursday August 09, 2007, 6:34 PM

Mitsu Yasukawa/The Star-LedgerJose Carranza turns himself in to authorities today.

The man who surrendered to authorities this afternoon in connection with the execution-style slayings of three college students in a Newark schoolyard Saturday has a violent past and was headed to trial on sexual assault charges, court records show.

Jose Carranza, 28, also known as Jose Larchire, was named today as the "principal suspect" in the slaughter that has stirred outrage in the city and beyond its borders. Carranza -- who surrendered in person to Newark Mayor Cory Booker -- and a 15-year-old boy arrested Wednesday night are charged with murder, robbery and weapons offenses in the killings. Authorities are still hunting for other possible suspects.

Jose Carranza

Carranza, who was picked out of a photo lineup by the attack's lone survivor, is a Peruvian whose last known address was in Orange and was free on bail in two separate cases, according to court records.

He had been indicted by Essex County grand juries twice this year: once in April on aggravated assault and weapons charges; and once in July on 31 counts, including aggravated sexual assault of a child under 13 years old and endangering the welfare of a child he had a duty to supervise, court records show.

With plea negotiations ongoing in the first case, Carranza was due to appear in court later this month, court records show. Instead, he is back in custody today after his fingerprint -- contained in a State Police database -- was matched to one lifted off a beer bottle found at the crime scene in Newark's Ivy Hill section, authorities said.

Accompanied by his lawyer, Carranza turned himself in to the mayor without saying a word, Booker said.

"He said nothing whatsoever," Booker said. "I put my hand on the individual, he turned around and we put him in handcuffs."

Carranza is being held on $1 million bail. His lawyer, Felix Lopez Montalvo, declined to comment, but Carranza's sister said today he is innocent of the killings.

Police continue to seek other perpetrators involved in the case. Garry McCarthy, Newark's police director, said the pace of the investigation has accelerated dramatically today as leads have snowballed.

"We've been able to put ourselves in a position now where we are looking for a number of individuals on a number of different levels," McCarthy said.

The 15-year-old suspect faces charges in Essex County Family Court. A family court judge this morning denied a request from The Star-Ledger to attend the proceedings, saying that if the name is made public he could face retaliation while in custody at the Essex County Juvenile Detention Center.

Essex County Prosecutor Paula Dow said today authorities hope to prosecute the 15-year-old as an adult. She said there was no family relationship between the 15-year-old and Carranza.

The survivor, 19-year-old Natasha Aeriel, remains hospitalized under 24-hour police guard.

The attacks unfolded around 11:30 Saturday night, when Aeriel, her brother and two friends drove to a playground behind Mount Vernon School in Newark's Ivy Hill section to drink, eat and listen to music, authorities said.

When they arrived, there were two men at the playground already. But soon afterward, two or three additional men showed up, and the friends started to panic. They exchanged text messages on their cell phones saying they ought to leave, according to police.

But before they could leave, the men approached the four friends and announced a robbery, police said.

Aeriel was shot first, through the face, and left near some aluminum bleachers. The other three -- her brother, Terrance Aeriel, Iofemi Hightower and Dashon Harvey -- were walked to a school wall, forced to kneel and shot in the back of the head.

The last three, described by family, friends and officials as model students or incoming students at Delaware State University, were dead by the time police arrived in response to a 911 call. Their funerals are planned for Saturday.

Officials continued to insist today that the murders -- in which the victims were black and the suspects, so far, are Hispanic -- were not related to racial tensions or gang activity.

"This is a heinous act, this is a vicious act ... but there is no evidence that it was a racist crime," Booker said.

The mayor, who campaigned on promises to quell Newark's violent street crime, came under intense criticism in the days following the killings. Nevertheless, he remained confident that in the end the crime would unite -- and not divide -- the city.

"We will turn a corner," he said today. "We must come together."