Jose Carranza

Case overview

Jose Carranza was a suspect in the slayings of three college students in a Newark schoolyard and the wounding of a fourth victim.

Carranza was also involved in an unrelated bar brawl in West Orange.

Background

Carranza arrived in New Jersey from Peru in 1991.

Carranza was 28 years old.

Carranza was also known as Jose Larchire.

The offence

Carranza was charged in connection with killings that occurred in a Newark schoolyard. The victims were four friends aged 18 to 20 who were shot while visiting in a school yard near their homes.

The robbery was described as appearing to be the motive. The four victims were forced to kneel against a wall and were shot at close range.

Terrance Aeriel, 18, was killed. Dashon Harvey, 20, was killed. Iofemi Hightower, 20, was killed. Natasha Aeriel, 19, Terrance Aeriel’s sister, survived a wound to her head and was hospitalized.

Authorities did not believe the four victims knew the suspects.

Investigation

Fingerprints on a bottle found at the shooting scene and ballistics evidence tied Carranza to the crime.

Carranza was picked out of a photo lineup by the attack’s lone survivor.

Carranza’s fingerprint, contained in a State Police database, was matched to one lifted off a beer bottle found at the crime scene.

Arrest

Carranza surrendered to Newark Mayor Cory Booker.

Carranza was being held on $1 million bail.

A 15-year-old boy was charged and pleaded not guilty, and remained in custody.

Another 15-year-old was also charged.

Trial

Carranza pleaded not guilty.

Carranza understood the charges against him.

Carranza was speaking through a Spanish interpreter during court appearances.

A 15-year-old boy pleaded not guilty and remained in custody; authorities sought to have the boy tried as an adult.

At an arraignment before Judge Michael R. Casale, the $1 million bail was continued and Carranza was ordered to be held apart from other inmates at the Essex County jail for his protection.

Carranza’s lawyer was Felix Lopez Montalvo, and Carranza declared in court that he would no longer cooperate with his attorney and wanted a new attorney to handle the appeal of the assault conviction and his defense in two pending cases, including the schoolyard homicides and an unrelated sex assault charge.

Sentencing

On May 12, 2008, Superior Court Judge Joseph Cassini sentenced Jose Lachira Carranza to consecutive four-year sentences for each of two victims hit over the head with beer bottles in the October 2006 fracas at Huguito’s restaurant, resulting in an 8-year prison sentence.

Judge Joseph Cassini said the sentencing was justified by the facts in the case and Carranza’s lack of remorse, stating:

"He has not shown remorse whatsoever in this," Cassini said. "There is no hint of an apology."

Naazneen Khan, the assistant Essex County prosecutor who handled the case, asked for the stiff sentence, and stated:

"This defendant is dangerous, he is violent, the citizens of Essex County deserve to be protected from him,"

Appeals

Carranza declared he wanted a new attorney to handle the appeal of the assault conviction and his defense in two pending cases, including the schoolyard homicides and an unrelated sex assault charge.

Outcome

Carranza was sentenced to 8 years in prison on May 12, 2008, for an unrelated bar brawl in West Orange.

The status also states that Carranza was sentenced to 7 years in prison on April 13, 2010.

Aftermath

The killings prompted billboards in the downtown area that said: “HELP WANTED: Stop the Killings in Newark Now!”

Residents and law enforcement organizations donated $150,000 to aid the victims’ families and to a reward fund for information.

Latasia Harvey, 22, a cousin of victim Dashon Harvey, said:

"I believe in a higher power, but I can't help but think that had (authorities) done their job in the beginning, this might not have happened,"

Newark Mayor Cory Booker said:

"You can obviously say that the system is not working," said Booker. "We have a problem."

Booker said there still seemed to be no motive in the triple slay, stating:

"That is the chilling part. This is a pure manifestation of evil action," Booker said.

Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura said:

"He should have been off the street,"

Other details

Carranza was described as a Peruvian national.

Carranza was first arrested last October after a bar fight in West Orange in which Carranza and two others used bottles and chairs to cause “significant bodily injuries” to one of the four victims, and he was charged with felony aggravated assault.

A municipal court judge set Carranza’s bail at $50,000, it was later reduced to $20,000, and he posted 10 percent and walked free.

Carranza was arrested again in January, and Judge John Kennedy set the initial bail at $150,000, which he posted by bond.

Carranza was re-arrested a month later in Newark on the same sex charges and a second bail was set at $300,000, according to a court official.

Essex County Judge Thomas Vena agreed to consolidate the charges, and allowed Carranza to go free based on the bond he posted in the original case.

A spokesman said:

"Essex County prosecutors never consented to lowering the bail or consolidating the bail,"

An Essex County grand jury indicted Carranza on 31 counts related to child rape.

The sex abuse began in 2003 when the girl was just 5, according to prosecutors, and the indictment alleged the abuse continued to this year.

On Thursday, prosecutors asked for $1 million bail in connection with the schoolyard homicides.

At court, Carranza could barely be heard in the courtroom as Mayor Cory A. Booker and relatives of the victims watched.

Officials stated that Natasha Aeriel was able to help identify the suspects.

Officials continued to insist that the murders were not related to racial tensions or gang activity, and Booker said:

"This is a heinous act, this is a vicious act ... but there is no evidence that it was a racist crime,"

The attacks unfolded around 11:30 Saturday night when Aeriel, her brother and two friends drove to a playground behind Mount Vernon School in Newark’s Ivy Hill section to drink, eat and listen to music, authorities said.

Authorities said that when they arrived, there were two men at the playground already, and soon afterward two or three additional men showed up and the friends started to panic.

The friends exchanged text messages on their cell phones saying they ought to leave, according to police.

Police said before they could leave, the men approached the four friends and announced a robbery.

Aeriel was shot first, through the face, and left near some aluminum bleachers.

The other three—Terrance Aeriel, Iofemi Hightower and Dashon Harvey—were walked to a school wall, forced to kneel and shot in the back of the head.

Authorities said the last three were dead by the time police arrived in response to a 911 call.

Officials said the survivor remained hospitalized under 24-hour police guard.

A family court judge denied a request from The Star-Ledger to attend the proceedings, and said if the name is made public he could face retaliation while in custody at the Essex County Juvenile Detention Center.

Essex County Prosecutor Paula Dow said authorities hoped to prosecute the 15-year-old as an adult.

Authorities said there was no family relationship between the 15-year-old and Carranza.

The teen’s name was not released because of his age.

Carranza and the 15-year-old were not related, Dow said.

Christopher Y. Iu, the prosecutor handling the fight case, said the office did not check Carranza’s immigration status.

Mark S. Ali, the prosecutor supervising the sex assault case, said the office probably believed Carranza had legal immigration status because of his application for a court-appointed attorney.

Dow would not answer questions about why Carranza was released on bail on the previous charges despite his immigration status.

In a later interview on CNN, Dow said:

"We realize that's an issue out here in our criminal justice system, and we are addressing it," Dow said.

Paul Loriquet, a spokesman for the Essex County prosecutor’s office, said:

He would not provide other details.

Thomas McTigue said the 15-year-old boy pleaded not guilty and remained in custody.

Prosecutor Thomas McTigue said that authorities were seeking to have the boy tried as an adult.

Garry McCarthy, Newark’s police director, said:

"We've been able to put ourselves in a position now where we are looking for a number of individuals on a number of different levels,"

A 15-year-old boy was identified as the third suspect during a news conference.

Authorities said they were still hunting for other possible suspects.

Funerals for the victims were planned for Saturday.