Arrest Made In Newark Execution-Style Murders: UPDATED: Second Person In Custody

Newark, New Jersey has been a dangerous city for a good long time. That perception has dogged the city for decades since the notorious riots in 1967. Cory Booker was elected Mayor and he promised to clean the city up. He has started to get the problem under control, and crime is actually down for the year. Murders for the year were down over last year, but this past week there was a grisly murder that shocked even long-time Newark residents.

Three college students were murdered execution style. A fourth student was seriously injured and law enforcement was stumped as to how and why this happened. They had few clues to to on. However, they were fortunate that one of the victims survived the brutal attack and was able to help police.

Police arrested a juvenile male Thursday in the case of three college students shot and killed in a schoolyard Saturday night, according to a city official with knowledge of the investigation.

The official, who was not authorized to release information about the case, spoke on condition of anonymity.

Four friends, ages 18 to 20, were shot while hanging out in a school yard. Authorities have said robbery appeared to be the motive.

Three of the victims — Terrance Aeriel, 18, Dashon Harvey, 20; and Iofemi Hightower, 20 —were forced to kneel against a wall and were shot at close range. The fourth, 19-year-old Natasha Aeriel, Terrance Aeriel's sister, survived a wound to her head and is hospitalized.

Mayor Cory A. Booker said investigators were using Natasha Aeriel's help to make a break in the case, but he did not elaborate.

Booker came under fire from some folks who said that Booker should resign over this incident. I suspect that those few were hardcore supporters of the man that Booker replaced, the disgraced and indicted Sharpe James.

Booker will be holding a presser later this morning. More details on the crime:

The massacre 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.

When they arrived, there were two men at the playground already. But soon afterward, two or three additional men showed up, and the friends started to panic. They exchanged text messages on their cell phones saying they ought to leave, according to police.

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

Aeriel was shot first, through the face, and left near some aluminum bleachers. The other three -- her brother, Terrance Aeriel, Iofemi Hightower and Dashon Harvey -- were walked to a school wall, forced to kneel and shot in the back of the head.

The last three, described by family, friends and officials as model students at Delaware State University, were dead by the time police arrived in response to a 911 call.

The brutality of the attacks outraged the public, some of whom blamed Newark Mayor Cory Booker, who won office last year on a pledge to cut violent crime. Booker, clearly shaken, has spent the week defending himself and urging the city to come together to help solve the crime and to heal.

This might the the spark that finally gets Newark residents to finally call out the criminal elements that have dominated the city for so long. Booker has to show that the City is not going to tolerate violence and petty crime, and getting the police out on patrol is just one part of the puzzle. Newark has a long way to go to improve its self-image, and it may have taken a very tragic and violent crime to make people realize just how bad things have been and what needs to happen.

UPDATE:
A second person has turned themselves in to Newark police in connection with the execution-style murder of the three Delaware State University students. Jose Carranza turned himself in to the police and he's accused of three counts of murder, four counts of robbery and one count of attempted murder. The guy has a prior arrests and was awaiting trial and forensic evidence tied him to the crime.

Other suspects are still at large, but no details have been given.

UPDATE:
Carranza actually attempted to turn himself into Booker directly.

"He asked specifically if he could turn himself into me," Booker said during a press conference announcing the surrender.

Offcials contacted Carranza's lawyer, Felix Montalvo, who is also a friend of Booker's. They arranged for a meeting at Newark Police Homicide Headquarters at 22 Franklin Street, where Booker led Carranza inside and into the custody of investigators.

"I had absolutely nothing to say to this individual," Booker said.