Thread: Suspects in Newark schoolyard killings nabbed in Va.

Suspects in Newark schoolyard killings nabbed in Va.
by Jonathan Schuppe and Jeff Whelan
Saturday August 18, 2007, 10:25 AM

Authorities this morning arrested two Newark brothers wanted for their role in the Aug. 4 execution style slayings of three college students, law enforcement sources said.

The arrests of 24-year-old Rodolfo Godinez and his 16-year-old brother took place in Mannassas, Va., capping a two-week mnahunt. One person, described as a teeneager, remains at large.

Godinez has been described as a "principal player" in the schoolyard killings.

Godinez and his brother bave been the subject if an intense manhunt that expanded throughout the East Coast down to Florida.

The break in the case came through information obtained by the FBI about the location of one of the suspects, according to a law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation.

One of the tactics used to pinpoint the suspects' whereabouts was their cellphones, the source said without elaborating.

Godinez, faces three counts of murder plus weapons and other charges. His brother faces similar charges.

Police also are searching for another male teenager in the killings. All together, authorities say six individuals, including four juveniles, were involved in the execution-style murders of Terrance Aeriel, 18; Dashon Harvey, 20; and Iofemi Hightower, 20.

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

Rev. John McClain, great uncle of Iofemi Hightower:

"Oh, thank God almighty. This will come as a great relief to our family," the Rev. John McClain, the great-uncle of Iofemi Hightower, said this morning. "I want to commend the police for their strong work and for the determination of the mayor, the governor and law enforcement across this state.

"There have been a lot of people working 12- and 16-hour days around the clock to make this happen and we are so thankful for their efforts," he said.

Three people - Jose Lachira Carranza, 28, and two other teenagers have already been charged in murders which took place behind the Mount Vernon School. Carranza, who is being held on $1 million bail in the murder case, is in the country illegally.

A 15-year-old Morristown boy and a 15-year-old Newark boy whave been charged also are being held.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2007/0 ... lyard.html

Update:

Shortly after midnight, authorities traced the two to an apartment in Prince George's County. Nearly 10 other people, Sorukas said, were arrested for immigration violations in the operation.

http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/n ... lings.html

By CHRIS NEWMARKER
TRENTON, N.J., Aug. 18, 2007


Authorities on Saturday morning arrested two more suspects in the deadly schoolyard shootings in Newark two weeks ago, bringing the total number of arrests in the case to five.

The two were found in the Washington, D.C., area, said Deputy U.S. Marshal Bill Sorukas, in charge of the fugitive hunts across the country.


Rodolfo Godinez -- a 24-year-old Nicaraguan immigrant described as a "principal player" in the case -- was arrested in Prince George's County, Md., Sorukas said.

A 16-year-old, whom Sorukas described as a possible relative of Godinez's, was arrested in the Woodbridge, Va., area.

The two, described as brothers by the Newark mayor's spokeswoman, were wanted in connection with the Aug. 4 murders of Terrance Aeriel, 18; Dashon Harvey, 20, and Iofemi Hightower, 20.

The brutality of the killings -- in which the three were forced to kneel in front of a wall behind an elementary school and shot in the back of the head -- managed to shock residents of a city where gun violence is too commonplace.

Aeriel's sister, Natasha, was shot in the head but survived and has helped police identify suspects.

A total five people have now been arrested in connection with the case.

Newark Mayor Cory A. Booker and Police Director Garry F. McCarthy scheduled a news conference Saturday evening to discuss more updates in the case. A spokeswoman for Booker said authorities are still searching for an additional suspect.

Shalga Hightower, Iofemi Hightower's mother, said she feels some peace with the additional arrests.

"My child can rest now that her killers have been caught," she said Saturday morning after hearing the news from her uncle, a police chaplain.

"I'm so grateful for everyone's help, Cory Booker, the Newark Police Department, federal marshals. I'm so grateful. I cannot express how much gratitude I have, for my daughter, for Natasha, for Terrance, for Dashon," Hightower said.

Previous arrests in the murder case include 28-year-old Jose Carranza, an illegal immigrant from Peru, and two juveniles.

Sorukas declined to discuss what clues led authorities to Godinez and the teenager.

The manhunt, involving federal, state and local authorities, had increasingly focused on the Washington, D.C., area, Sorukas said.

"For the past five day, we've believed there was a strong possibility they were in the Northern Virginia, Washington, D.C., area," Sorukas said.

Shortly after midnight, authorities traced the two to an apartment in Prince George's County. Nearly 10 other people, Sorukas said, were arrested for immigration violations in the operation.

Both Godinez and the teenager were being held in local jails in Maryland and Virginia, awaiting extradition to New Jersey, Sorukas said.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3496572&page=1