Thread: NJ: Accused killer fights extradition

Accused killer fights extradition
Newark 'gang overtones' downplayed by Booker
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
BY JONATHAN SCHUPPE
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf ... 1#continue
Star-Ledger Staff

One of six suspects arrested in the execution-style shootings of four young people in a Newark schoolyard is fighting extradition to New Jersey.

Rodolfo Godinez, 24, of Newark is being held in Prince George's County in Maryland, and faces an extradition hearing Sept. 20. Police arrested him early Saturday as he hid in an apartment in Oxon Hill, Md.

Godinez was one of three suspects apprehended last weekend in connection with the Aug. 4 shootings at the Mount Vernon School. Three college-age Newark residents were shot to death, and a fourth wounded, as they socialized late that evening behind the school.

At a news conference yesterday in Newark, Mayor Cory Booker addressed speculation that the shootings were gang-related by saying that, despite "gang overtones," police have no evidence to indicate the killings were a gang attack.

Although authorities continue to believe the suspects intended to rob the victims, there has been rampant speculation within the Ivy Hill neighborhood where the shootings occurred that the crimes were gang-related. Two of the juvenile suspects praised the MS-13 gang on their MySpace page, and some residents have said they believed some of the suspects were gang members.

"It is obvious, as info continues to come forward, that we're seeing some gang overtones that are involved with this," the mayor said. "Though we do not know with any specificity if this was a gang-related event whatsoever."

Police Director Garry McCarthy said the shootings have prompted his department to step up its intelligence on MS-13, a Hispanic gang with which some of the suspects identified.

When the investigation started, he said, authorities realized they had only scraps of knowledge about the gang's presence in Newark.

"When people started talking about the gang angle and we started searching, there was very limited information," said McCarthy. "So going forward, what are we doing? We're investigating all possible gang affiliations we can."

Asked whether the victims were sexually assaulted, Booker said he would not rule that out.

The mayor appeared relieved to be able to announce that all six suspects were in custody. He thanked the police department and the Essex County Prosecutor's Office for working around the clock.

"The darkness of the night that has descended on Newark on August 4th is finally coming to an end," he said.

During the news conference, Booker also denounced critics who were trying to "exploit" the killings to advance an anti-immigration agenda.

His comments were a pre-emptive strike against Republican presidential candidate Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado, who stood on the steps of Newark City Hall later in the day and argued that the city has some culpability in the shootings because of a resolution it passed last year saying that undocumented immigrants shouldn't be denied services because of their status.

One of the six suspects, Jose Lachira Carranza, 28, of Orange, was an illegal Peruvian immigrant.

"If the government had done its job then, it's quite possible they wouldn't be here in this city," said Booker, referring to the U.S. immigration authorities.

The six suspects are accused of killing Terrance Aeriel, 18, Dashon Harvey, 20, and Iofemi Hightower, 20. The three were shot in the back of the head after being forced to stand against a wall by the school's basketball courts.

A fourth victim, Natasha Aeriel, 19, also was shot in the head, but survived.

Godinez was one of two suspects picked up Saturday in the suburbs of Washington, D.C.

Police also arrested his half-brother, Alexander Alfaro, 16, in Woodbridge, Va. An FBI informant told police he had been spotted in the days after the killings hanging out with members of MS-13 in the Washington, D.C., area. (Though Alfaro is a minor, he was named by Essex County law enforcement authorities.)

MS-13, also known as Mara Salvatrucha, is a notoriously violent Central American street gang that has a historically strong grip in neighborhoods outside of the nation's capital.

The third suspect apprehended over the weekend, Melvin Jovel, 18, was arrested at his family's home in Elizabeth.

In addition to Carranza, authorities earlier had arrested two 15-year-old youths.

All six have been charged in the killings.

Yesterday Alfaro made his first appearance in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court in Prince William County, said Paul Ebert, the commonwealth attorney for Prince William County.

Alfaro is being held in a juvenile detention center in Manassas, Va., until a Sept. 10 court hearing. Since he is a juvenile, Alfaro must consult with the attorney and guardian before deciding whether to fight extradition to New Jersey, Ebert said.

Godinez, a Nicaraguan national who is a legal resident of the U.S., is being held in a Prince George's County jail in Maryland and is fighting extradition. He will have a hearing Sept. 20.

Ramon Korionoff, a spokesman for Maryland State's Attorney Glenn Ivey, said the only argument Godinez will be allowed to make during his extradition hearing is to claim a case of mistaken identity. If he fails, he will be returned to New Jersey.

Jovel, meanwhile, is scheduled to be arraigned before Judge Donald Volkert in state Superior Court in Newark today. He is being held on $2 million bail.

He attended West Side High School, the same school that the Aeriels and Hightower attended.

Jovel was on the varsity soccer team for three years, playing as a left forward, said Otto Floyd, the school's athletic director. It was unclear yesterday whether he graduated from the school or why he did not play his senior year.

"He was a pretty quiet kid," said Floyd. "He didn't give us any problems. The people here who knew him never had problems with him."

"The darkness of the night that has descended on Newark on August 4th is finally coming to an end," he said.

Mr Mayor this is just the start of the darkness, if you don't start cracking down on illegals your going to see the fury of a storm you can't even imagine!