Violence rocks city neighborhoods
By:
05/20/2007

By JOE D'AQUILA
Staff Writer
TRENTON -- Police were continuing their investigation yesterday into the beating death of a city man, killed late Saturday night, in what sources have characterized as a struggle with the gangsters that have taken over the neighborhood.
Juan Pablo Villanueva, 37, of the 300 block of Centre Street became the city's 11th homicide victim of 2007 Saturday night, after police found him unresponsive in the street near his home.
Villanueva was transported to Capital Health System at Fuld hospital to be treated for injuries sustained during a severe beating in an altercation with several people
Police said he was pronounced dead at 12:50 yesterday morning.
Official information provided by police didn't clearly state what type of injuries caused Villanueva's death, but a police source said he may have been stabbed or possibly had his chest crushed with a brick.
The source, who spoke on a condition of anonymity, said the possible cause of death was a crushed aorta.
A 16-year-old has been arrested in the crime, charged only with manslaughter in the death, not murder.
Police said they arrived on the scene on Centre Street after they received a report of an assault in progress.
Once there, police said they first encountered a 21-year-old male who had been stabbed in the shoulder.
The victim, police said, told police he was stabbed by a Hispanic male, while attempting to pull his cousin out of a street fight.
Police then received information that there was a Hispanic male lying unresponsive in front of a home down the block.
Once the unconscious Villanueva was attended to, detectives interviewed several witnesses, including three juveniles, police said.
Police said one 16-year-old was taken into custody, after Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Brian McCauley, assisting in the investigation, determined there was enough probable cause for a manslaughter charge.
But area residents, and a police source said Villanueva's death was more than a fight gone out of control.
One neighborhood resident, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, said Villanueva found himself Saturday night in a fight against gang members who have taken up an increasing presence on the block.
Villanueva, the source said, was likely a Guatemalan immigrant, living with a group of other men in a home on the block.
They said the gang members terrorized the men, often stealing from them and breaking windows on their home and their cars.
The source theorized that Villanueva was likely armed with the knife to defend himself while encountering the gang members for the latest transgression.
They felt sorry that Villanueva met his fate that way in standing up to an element that has clearly terrorized others in the neighborhood, and the city.
"It should have been the opposite way around as far as I'm concerned," the source said. "It's surely bad around here with them (gangs). They walk around Centre Street like they own Centre Street."
A law enforcement source, who also asked to remain nameless, said that it was also a possibility that Villanueva was being robbed by the "group of individuals" he was in the altercation with.
The source said that it seemed likely that he was defending himself with his knife when he allegedly stabbed the 21-year-old victim, and that his beating death ensued after he dared to fight back.
One woman, who asked not to be identified, said she knew Villanueva, but only in a neighborly way. She said he only spoke Spanish, but was always respectful
"I'm sorry to hear that he did pass away," she said.
The woman said she didn't know if Villanueva had any family in the area.
Anyone with further information on this homicide is asked to call Detective Manuel Montez at (609) 989-4159 or the confidential tip line at (609) 989-3663.
Crime Stoppers of Greater Trenton is also offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of any other suspect or suspects in this death. They can be contacted at (609) 278-8477.

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