New Jersey man, 31, is found guilty of murdering two children, ages 8 and 11, and a college student he was accused of sexually assaulting: Was angry about a Facebook post she posted
- Jeremy Arrington, 31, was found guilty on a number of charges related to the Newark home invasion, where authorities said he tortured six people,
- He killed three of them – two of which were children – and stabbed the three others, according to the Essex County prosecutor
- Arrington stabbed Aerial Little Whitehurst, 8, and Al-Jahon Whitehurst, 11 to death before shooting Syasia McBorroughs, 23, to death
- McBorroughs was a college student who had been visiting the family at the time of the murders
- Arrington became enraged after a former victim of his allegedly reposted a police alert on Facebook that named him as a suspect in an earlier shooting
A New Jersey man has been convicted for the 2016 murder of two children and a college student after he broke into a house, tortured, stabbed the kids to death and fatally shot the student because he was angry over a Facebook post, prosecutors announced Saturday.
Jeremy Arrington, 31, was found guilty on a number of charges related to the Newark home invasion, where authorities said he tortured six people, killing three of them – two of which were children – and stabbing the three others, according to the Essex County prosecutor.
Arrington stabbed Aerial Little Whitehurst, 8, and Al-Jahon Whitehurst, 11 to death before shooting Syasia McBorroughs, 23, to death. McBorroughs was a college student who had been visiting the family at the time of the murders, authorities said.
Prosecutors said that Arrington was a suspect in an earlier shooting and sexual assault – and that one of the stabbing victims had shared an alert about Arrington on Facebook.
When he say it, he decided to attack them at home, reported CBS New York.
Jeremy Arrington, 31, pictured, was found guilty on a number of charges related to the Newark home invasion
Arrington stabbed Aerial Little Whitehurst, 8, and Al-Jahon Whitehurst, 11 to death before shooting Syasia McBorroughs, 23, to death
Two 13-year-old twins, a boy and a girl, were also stabbed during the brutal attacks, but survived, as did the family’s mother, reports said.
Officials said Arrington became enraged after a former victim of his allegedly reposted a police alert on Facebook that named Arrington as a suspect in an earlier shooting and sexual assault, according to NJ.com.
‘The proofs revealed Arrington (then) proceeded to torture them by stabbing them with kitchen knives,’ Stephens said in a statement.
‘The attack was apparently prompted by a comment on Facebook,’ Stephens said.
In November 2016, Arrington broke into the Whitehurst residence with a loaded gun before tying up everyone in the home.
After bounding them and leaving them defenseless, he then tortured them with kitchen knives, according to prosecutors.
Al-Jahon Whitehurst, pictured, was stabbed and killed along with his sister back in 2016
Pictured: college student Syasia McBorroughs, 23, was allegedly shot to death by Arrington after he stabbed two children to death
At the time of the crimes, Arrington had also been wanted on charges of sexual assault and aggravated assault for an unrelated incident back in October 2016, a month before the murders, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray said at a news conference shortly after the stabbings.
He was eventually apprehended after a standoff, police told CBS New York. Multiple SWAT team members responded after being told that Arrington was barricaded inside a building in Newark.
At the time, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka had called the attack ‘one of the most tragic and savage’ he’s seen.
Police had offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to Arrington’s arrest prior to his capture.