Acting Essex County Prosecutor and Newark Police Director Samuel DeMaio announced today that two teenagers have been arrested and charged with the murder of taxicab driver Rochenel Guerrier, 49, of Irvington.
Guerrier was killed in the predawn hours of Saturday, July 7. Just after 5 am Newark Police received a report of a car crash involving Guerrier’s taxicab and several parked cars. When they arrived on the scene they discovered Guerrier had sustained a gunshot wound. Guerrier was pronounced dead at the scene.
On Wednesday, July 11, Jeshon Johnson, 19, of Newark was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service. Today, Alchane Mayes, 18, of Newark, who also list an address in Henryville, Pa., was arrested by detectives from the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide/Major Crimes Task Force.
“These arrests should send out a clear message to those who choose to embrace the criminal element that the Police Department and its partners, will do everything within our powers to apprehend and assist in the prosecution of those who insist on criminal activity. Removing these dangerous criminals from our streets while assuring the safety of our citizens was the top priority of all the agencies involved,” said Police Director Samuel DeMaio
Both men were both charged with robbery, felony murder, conspiracy and weapons offenses. They are both being held on $1 million bail at the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark.
These are accusations. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they plead guilty or are found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
