Prosecutors now reveal, 1 year later, Newark schoolyard slayings WERE gang-related!

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

'Strong gang component' revealed in Newark schoolyard slayings

by William Kleinknecht/The Star-Ledger

Monday September 15, 2008, 4:16 PM

From left, victims Iofemi Hightower, Dashon Harvey, and Terrance Aeriel

Prosecutors said for the first time today that the slayings of three college students in a Newark schoolyard last year had a "strong gang component" that was downplayed at the time for fear of inflaming the city.

...

"Certainly there was a strong gang component underlying each of these crimes," said Thomas McTigue, Essex County assistant prosecutor.

McTigue said ... his office would introduce evidence of gang motivation in the prosecution.

The indictment brought charges of murder, robbery, weapons offenses and other crimes against Rodolfo Godinez, 25; his 17-year-old brother, Alexander Alfaro; Jose Lachira Carranza, 29; Melvin Jovel, 19; Shahid Baskerville, 16; and Gerardo Gomez, 16.

The four students were hanging out behind Mount Vernon School on Aug. 4, 2007, when they were confronted by their attackers with a handgun and a machete. Three of the victims -- Terrance Aeriel, 18, Dashon Harvey, 20, and Iofemi Hightower, 20 -- were killed when they were lined up against the wall and shot in the back of the head. Terrance's sister, Natasha Aeriel, survived after being shot in the face and left for dead.

All of the victims were robbed, and Aeriel and the group's other female, Iofemi Hightower, were sexually molested and cut with machetes and knives, according to a lawsuit recently filed against the city school system and the alleged killers.

According to the indictment, Natasha Aeriel was sexually molested by Carranza and Baskerville, who were both charged with two counts of aggravated sexual assault.

Essex County Prosecutor Paula Dow, in explaining why her office and the Newark police denied gang involvement earlier in the case, said ... they ... did not want to risk causing further violence in the city by speculating about the role MS-13 played in the killings. Other law enforcement officials have said privately that the concern was heightened because the victims were African-American and MS-13 is a Hispanic gang.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/09/a...grand_jury.html