66°
No fewer than nine county sheriff’s officers kept a close watch as Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Danielle Grootenboer read the list of charges against each, including felony murder, and their respective defense attorneys entered not-guilty pleas.
Prosecutors said the defendants were all armed with guns Saturday night when they stormed the Walker Street apartment of Jeronimo Lopez, put nearly a dozen people on the floor and took $1,800 in cash and valuables.
Fairview Police Lt. Brendan O’Reilly, Detective Capt. Martin Kahn, Acting Chief Thomas Juliano (STORY / PHOTOS: Mary K. Miraglia, CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter)
Jeronimo Lopez was taken into the kitchen and shot in the stomach during the holdup by 20-year-old Evens Dumas (above, left) of Irvington, they said. Lopez died later in surgery at Hackensack University Medical Center.
Dumas — who may have been in the country illegally — was carrying two guns, a .380-caliber and a .25-caliber, Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said Tuesday.
Lopez had been running the card games for awhile in the apartment he shared with his son, Molinelli said.
Jose Rivas, an MS-13 gang member from West New York, got wind of the game and contacted three associates from Irvington who Molinelli said belong to the Bloods gang subset Sex Money Murder, the prosecutor said.
Rivas (second from right), a 25-year-old ex-con, then drove the group there Saturday night in a Jeep Cherokee, he said.
Rivas went inside with Dumas and 21-year-old Keyshawn Malone (second from left) — whom Molinelli identified as the ringleader — leaving a third man, Blonson Forestal (right), 19, in the car, the prosecutor said.
The trio then pistol-whipped a man standing outside smoking a cigarette and shoved him into the apartment, he said.
Eleven people were inside, including Lopez and his son.
The robbers put 10 of them on the floor and took all of their wallets and jewelry, while grabbing all the cash from the money pot and pistol-whipping one of the victims.
Dumas then took Lopez into the kitchen, where a single shot rang out, Molinelli said.
Malone had robbed illegal card games before, the prosecutor said Tuesday.
“They’re easy targets,” he said. “They usually don’t report that they’re robbed.”
Several Fairview officers and detectives from his office worked the case, canvassing the neighborhood and assembling valuable information, the prosecutor said.
Dumas is charged with 10 felonies, including first-degree murder and felony murder, as well as armed robbery, aggravated assault and various weapons counts.
The others are all charged with felony murder, robbery and various weapons counts.
Malone tilted his head and rolled his eyes throughout the brief hearing. Dumas stared directly into a reporter’s camera. Florestal appeared confused, even worried. Rivas kept his chin up.
STORY / PHOTOS: Mary K. Miraglia, CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter
Click here to follow Daily Voice Hackensack and receive free news updates.
