The night that left a 12-year-old Jersey City boy dead and his father and another man wounded began with three people leaving Newark bound for Jersey City, armed and bent on robbery.
JERSEY CITY -- The night that left a 12-year-old Jersey City boy dead and his father and another man wounded began with three people leaving Newark bound for Jersey City, armed and bent on robbery.
"They left Newark with one thing in their minds -- to get money," Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Leo Rinaldi said in his opening statement this afternoon in the trial of Farrarhd H. Gunter, 36, of Newark, who is charged with murdering Gywan Levine Jr. on the night of May 17, 2013. "They had guns, they got into a car, they came to Jersey City to take whatever they could."
Rinaldi alleged that on that night, Janice S. Everett, 28, of Rahway, pulled her Chrysler over and her boyfriend, Shawn Harris, 36, of Irvington, and Gunter got out and walked to where Levine Sr. and his son were playing with a basketball on Rutgers Avenue between Stevens Avenue and Wade Street.
Levine Sr. testified today that two men approached him and about four other men and "One person pulled a gun out of his right pocket and said 'You know what this is.'" He said he ran and "I was shot in the leg -- broke my femur ..."
He said he collapsed on the sidewalk and the men approached him asking "Where is it at?" He said he has a limp from a previous injury and they may have thought he was armed due to the way he walked. They took his wallet and ran off, he said.
"Once I collapsed on the curb I heard my son say 'Dad.' He heard another gunshot and his son said "'Ow' and he was on the ground."
The prosecutor said the pair ran back to the car and robbed another man nearby who was also shot. Everett and Harris took plea deals and are on the witness list for Gunter's trial. Rinaldi said he will also produce others who identified Gunter.
But under cross examination by defense attorney Keith Hirschorn, Levine admitted he could not identify Gunter as the gunman. Although Levine testified he was shot by a man wearing a grey hoodie, Hirschorn reminded Gunter that he originally told police he "had no recollection of even the clothes they were wearing."
Then Hirschorn attacked Levine's character.
The attorney asked if he or others were selling marijuana at the location that night.
"No," Levine replied.
"But you have a history of that," the lawyer continued.
"I do," Levine said.
"You have done time in state prison for having a gun," Hirschorn prodded.
"Yes," he replied.
"You have done time in state prison for dealing marijuana."
Again, Levine said "Yes."
Finally, Hirschorn said, "Your friends are also aware you are a member of the Hoover Street Crips (street gang)."
Levine said they are aware of that.
Rinaldi said shortly after the shootings, Everett tried to use one of Levine's credit cards to buy sneakers. Officers went to her home, found the car and found Levine's belongings inside. She was arrested and "Janice Everett gave us the names of Farrarhd Gunter and Shawn Harris."
Hirschorn said it was not until Everett's third version of events to police that she mentioned Gunter's name. He said she originally told police she only knew his nickname.
"She goes back to jail and has more conversations with Mr. Harris and miraculously the third person no one could name for days turns into Mr. Gunter." The attorney said police needed a third person because they have video of one person staying in the car and two getting out.
The trial will resume before Hudson County Superior Court Judge John Young at 9 a.m. tomorrow in the Hudson County Administration Building in Jersey City.
Also on the stand today was Jersey City Police Officer Jorge Lopez who told of responding to Rutgers Avenue on the night of the shooting and beginning CPR on the 12-year-old before he was rushed to Jersey City Medical Center-Barnabas Health and pronounced dead.