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Jeronimo Lopez was taken into the kitchen and shot in the stomach by Evens Dumas of Irvington after the trio burst into the apartment at Walker and Third streets around 10:45 p.m. Saturday, Molinelli said.
Lopez died later in surgery at Hackensack University Medical Center.
Dumas, 20, was carrying two guns, a .380-caliber and a .25-caliber, the prosecutor said. His two accomplices each had a gun, as did a fourth member who joined them soon after, he said.
Lopez had been running the card games for awhile in the apartment he shared with his son, Molinelli said during a news conference in Hackensack.
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, 25, then drove the group there Saturday night in a Jeep Cherokee, he said.
Rivas went inside with Dumas and 21-year-old Keyshawn Malone — whom Molinelli identified as the ringleader — leaving a third man, Blonson Forestal, 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.
“When you have 15 people and four guns in an apartment, someone is going to get shot,” the prosecutor said.
Malone had robbed illegal card games before, Molinelli said.
“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.
Evens Dumas, Keyshawn Malone, Blonson Florestal, Jose Rivas
(MUGSHOTS: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY SHERIFF)
TOP: Bergen County Prosecutor John L Molinelli (PHOTO: Mary K. Miraglia, CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter)
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