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Charles A. Richardson, 34, of Paterson was wanted for murder when East Orange police arrested him following a traffic stop Sunday night, authorities said.
Law enforcement sources said Richardson had gotten into a sidewalk despite with Tremaine Thomas, 43, outside the Pull Up 2 smoke shop on 10th Avenue the afternoon of June 20.
Richardson followed Thomas into the store and cold-cocked him with his fist in the head, knocking him out, they said.
City firefighters tried to revive Thomas before he was taken with severe head trauma to St. Joseph’s University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead about three hours later.
City police obtained a warrant for Richardson’s arrest for first-degree murder after identifying him as the killer, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes said in a joint release Monday with Paterson Police Chief Ibrahim Baycora and East Orange Police Chief Phyllis Bindi.
East Orange police took Richardson into custody without incident around 6:30 p.m. Sunday, they said. He remained held in the Passaic County Jail pending a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Paterson.
Thomas’s death was the 11th homicide in Paterson this year.
A funeral service was scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday preceded by visitation at 9 a.m. at St. Peter’s Sounds of Praise on Fair Street in Paterson.
Burial will follow in Crest Haven Memorial Park on Passaic Avenue in Clifton.
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