Newark: 10 killings in 10 days include 14-year-old Ali Henderson dealing heroin and Jesus Torres delivering pizza
Newark had been experiencing a decline in violent crime this year, until a recent wave of killings changed that trend.
Ten people were slain over a 10-day stretch, the latest a 14-year-old boy who was gunned down outside the Riverview Terrace housing complex late Wednesday.
photo JRLibby
There is no sign the 10 killings are connected, Newark Police Director Samuel DeMaio told WCBS 880.
DeMaio said police cannot “arrest our way out of this problem.” He called for help from the community and parents, pointing to the fact that the 14-year-old shooting victim, Ali Rajohn Eric Henderson, had five prior arrests and more than 3,000 decks of heroin and a loaded handgun inside his bedroom.
“He was 50 feet away from his home when the murder took place,” DeMaio said. “You can’t tell me that the parent doesn’t know what’s going on.”
Kiamesha Minton, a 20-year-old resident of Rochester, New York, was shot and killed while sitting in a parked car on Monday, and another female was wounded, according to Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn Murray.
Jesus Torres was making a delivery for Pizza Hut when he was shot around 9:30 p.m.. Torres was driving, so his car crashed into a fence.
19-year-old Aljabree Adams was shot and killed on West Runyon Street, which is close to the Minton shooting, just three hours later.
Prior to the string of slayings, Newark had seen 19 fewer shooting victims this year than it had through late August of 2012. The city has had 59 homicides in 2013.
No arrests have been made in Henderson’s killing.
Police will focus on suspects who could be involved in drug activity, because at least half of the homicides since last week have involved people in the drug trade, DeMaio said.
Mayor Cory Booker, who is running for U.S. Senate in a special election, announced a new anti-crime initiative Wednesday.
“The violence we’ve seen over the last 10 days is unacceptable,” Booker said in a statement. “The spate of violence that our city has seen over the last couple of weeks is unconscionable, and drives me towards both anger and sadness.”
My comment’s about the pizza delivery person who was killed during that week and a half in Newark, Jesus M. Torres.
Mr. Torres had a son who was 2 months old at the time this murder ocurred. We were talking about this a week ago on Father’s Day 2014, and realized the son’ll be turning a year old right about now.
Jesus Manuel Torres was a new father. He was a musician on the side and — going by Jay Manny — he’d been making songs with his friends for the previous five years.
I didn’t know this person but I like what I learned about him. So I made a nice donation to Big Brothers & Big Sisters of Essex County, New Jersey (Newark is in Essex County) in memory of Jesus Manuel Torres.