Prosecutors said Jeremy Arrington terrorized the family inside their Newark Home because he was angry they reposted a Facebook post about him
A New Jersey man was convicted of murdering two children and a college student and stabbing three others during a 2016 home invasion because of a Facebook alert that one of the victims had reposted about him, according to authorities.
On Friday, Jeremy Arrington, 31, of Newark, was convicted of fatally stabbing Ariel Whitehurst, 7, and her brother, Al-Jahon Whitehurst, 11, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens II announced Saturday.
Arrington was also convicted of fatally shooting Syasia McBurroughs, 23, who was visiting the family.
One of the stabbing victims had reposted an alert that authorities had posted on Facebook about Arrington being wanted in connection with a previous shooting and sexual assault, NJ.com reported.
“The loss of three lives and the anguish caused by this defendant is unfathomable,” Deputy Chief Assistant Prosecutor Justin Edwab said in the release.
After a 10-day trial, a jury convicted Arrington of 28 counts, including the three counts of murder, burglary, three counts of attempted murder, criminal restraint, unlawful possession of a handgun and unlawful possession of a knife.
On Nov. 5, 2016, Arrington broke into the Whitehurst’s home in Newark with a loaded firearm and terrorized nine residents when he “proceeded to torture them by stabbing them with kitchen knives,” the prosecutor said in a release.
Ariel and Al-Jahon Whitehurst died of their stab wounds. They were pronounced dead at University Hospital.
McBurroughs, a college student who was at the home, was shot to death and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Emergency medical personnel were able to save three other victims: the children’s 29-year-old mother and a 13-year-old boy and girl, who are twins, NJ.com reported.
Their lives were saved because of “a young girl with autism who escaped and called for help from her phone” while hiding in a closet, Edwab said in the release.
Arrington was arrested after he fled and barricaded himself inside a nearby home, telling police he was holding someone hostage, which turned out to be false, the release said.
Arrington is scheduled to be sentenced on April 8 and faces multiple life sentences in prison.
“We are forever grateful to the courageous survivors and witnesses who testified as well as the investigative personnel who helped bring this defendant to justice,” Edwab said in the release. “Hopefully this verdict will bring some form of justice to all of the families and friends affected by this defendant’s horrific actions.”
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Original Article: https://people.com/crime/n-j-man-convicted-of-breaking-into-home-murdering-3-residents-in-response-to-facebook-post/
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