Thread: Man, 21, charged in fatal fight with migrant

http://www.thehammontonnews.com/apps/pb ... 60311/1002

Article published Jul 26, 2006
Man, 21, charged in fatal fight with migrant


By BEN MERITT
Staff Writer
bmeritt@thehammontonnews.com

HAMMONTON -- A 21-year-old migrant worker faces murder charges after a 19-year-old migrant worker died after a fight at a farm Saturday night.

Marcelino Gomez Perez died from a stab wound to the abdomen. He was injured during a fight with Jesus Ramirez, 21, at the Bridge Avenue Farm, where both were employed as workers, according to Atlantic County Prosecutor Jeffrey Blitz.

The stab wound to Perez severed his renal artery causing extensive internal bleeding, according to Prosecutor's Office spokeswoman Janet Neidosik.

The incident unfolded at 11:44 p.m. Saturday when Perez and Ramirez got into a fight outside the farm's bunkhouse. Two of Perez's cousins, Pedro Gomez Hernandez, 19, and Augustin Hernandez Gomez, 21, who also work at the farm, attempted to break up the fight and were injured. Hernandez suffered a slash wound to the face while Gomez was punched in the head. Both were treated by medical personnel at the farm, Blitz said.

Perez was pronounced dead at the scene around 12:07 a.m. Sunday by the Atlantic County Medical Examiner's Office, Blitz said.

Blitz declined to discuss what prompted the argument.

Ramirez fled the scene on foot prompting an intensive, all-night manhunt by Hammonton Police and other area police departments. Around 7 a.m., Ramirez was found hiding in a portable toilet on the farm. About an hour earlier, Blitz authorized filing the murder charge against Ramirez.

Ramirez was arraigned before Superior Court Judge Michael Donio, who set bail at $200,000. Ramirez was then placed in the Atlantic County Jail after failing to post bail.

The apparent homicide was the second in less than two weeks in Hammonton. On July 11, Martin Colon, 35, of Hammonton was beaten to death behind a White Horse Pike liquor store.

Hammonton Police are also investigating another incident at a farm labor camp. Hammonton Police Chief Frank Ingemi said Tuesday that Edwin Cruz, 22, of Hammonton has been charged with aggravated assault, possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose in connection with the stabbing of Luis Morales, 46, of Hammonton at the Scordo's Farm Camp on Bairdmore Avenue. Morales was hospitalized at Kessler Memorial Hospital following the incident which took place at 2:41 p.m. July 20. Cruz is being held in the Atlantic County Jail in default of $25,000 cash bail.

Oh great, as if our prisons and court systems aren't already overwhelmed by illegals already

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news ... 6862c.html

Farm workers back to work after cousin's fatal stabbing
By TIMOTHY PUKO Staff Writer, (609) 272-7275
Published: Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Updated: Tuesday, July 25, 2006

HAMMONTON — On Saturday night, Pedro Gomez Hernandez was slashed in the face with a knife and Augusin Hernandez Gomez took a punch to the head, authorities said. Their 19-year-old cousin Marcelino Gomez Perez was stabbed to death during a fight authorities said they tried to stop.

On Monday morning, Hernandez, 19, and Gomez, 21, were back working at the same farm where they live, at the same farm where they were hurt and their cousin died.

“They didn't have to if they didn't want to, but they did,” said Tommy DelRossi, third-generation owner of Bridge Avenue Farms on Pleasant Mills Road.

Perez's body will be sent back to family in Mexico this week, DelRossi said. His cousins and about 100 co-workers at the farm are continuing on, trying to make a living at a small blueberry farm that for many of them is thousands of miles from home.

Jesus Ramirez, 21, was arraigned on murder charges Monday before Superior Court Judge Michael Donio, Atlantic County Prosecutor Jeffrey S. Blitz said. Ramirez was arrested the morning after the fight when police found him in a portable toilet at the end of a night-long search.

While police were searching, workers were standing outside in the rain waiting to see what would happen, DelRossi said. By Monday, things had returned to relative normalcy.

“There was no carrying on or crying or anything like that,” DelRossi said. “Everyone was just dumbfounded.”

DelRossi said his workers would not be able to comment because they don't speak English. From the dirt driveway, many could be seen moving about inside the stark-white, flat-fronted garage building at the front of the farm.

No one was in the green, still, high-bush blueberry fields, beyond which sit the bunkhouses were the workers live together. DelRossi said yellow crime scene tape marked off part of the residents' area Sunday but is now gone. He refused a request to see the area.

Fights can be common at these types of farms where migrant workers live. There was another stabbing at another town farm the same weekend, police Chief Frank Ingemi said.

Stabbings of migrant workers have been reported in each of the past three summers in the region. Two of those were in Hammonton. In 2000, three migrant workers from Vineland were indicted on charges they slit a co-worker's throat.

Despite that, DelRossi said he never heard of such a killing.

“I'm not accustomed to things like this, God forbid,” he said. “It's really a tragedy. We're heart-stricken over here.”

The county Prosecutor's Office is now in charge of investigating the most recent stabbing, but declined to release details about how or why Saturday's fight started. DelRossi compared it to a bar fight.

“Was I surprised? No, not really,” Ingemi said about hearing of the fight. “When you drink and you don't have a lot to do, not a lot of good things come of that.”

Ingemi said he is “going to be working on some things” dealing with local farm workers' camps, but declined to be specific, saying he had yet to speak with the mayor about his plans.

Running such a facility can be challenging, DelRossi said.

“It takes a lot,” he added. “You try to do the best, but you can't watch everyone 24 hours a day.”



To e-mail Timothy Puko at The Press:

TPuko@pressofac.com

DelRossi said his workers would not be able to comment because they don't speak English. From the dirt driveway, many could be seen moving about inside the stark-white, flat-fronted garage building at the front of the farm.

Okay, how many of these migrants are illegal aliens? If just one is, DelRossi should be prosecuted for hiring him!

Ramirez fled the scene on foot prompting an intensive, all-night manhunt by Hammonton Police and other area police departments.

What? A criminal felon illegal alien fleeing on foot? Gee, I've never heard that one before.