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Jeremy Arrington, 32, broke into the Whitehurst family home on Hedden Terrace in Newark with a loaded gun in November 2016, and tied up everyone who was inside of the home, authorities said citing arguments from 25 witnesses.
Arrington shot and killed 23-year-old Syasia McBurroughs, then stabbed 7-year-old Ariel Little Whitehurst, and her brother, 11-year-old Al-Jahon Whitehurst, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens, II, said.
Responders were able to save some victims including a 29-year-old woman, a 13-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl, who are twins.
The two children were pronounced dead at University Hospital and McBurroughs was pronounced dead at the scene.
Arrington was convicted of 28 counts including murder, attempted murder and weapons offenses before Superior Court Judge Ronald D. Wigler late Friday, March 4,
Arrington subsequently fled the scene but was arrested just before 8 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 6, 2016, after barricading himself on a Pomona Avenue home, where he told authorities he also had a hostage. The hostage situation was false and Arrington was arrested without incident.
In addition to the three consecutive life sentences for murder, Judge Wigler imposed consecutive 50-year sentences for each of the three attempted murder convictions for the surviving victims. Under the No Early Release Act, Arrington would have to serve a total of 281 years of his 375-year sentence before being eligible for parole.
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