Uncle, Nephew Admit Guilt In 2019 Machete Slaying In Howell

FREEHOLD – An uncle and his nephew from Lakewood have pleaded guilty to first-degree aggravated manslaughter in a 2019 slaying in Howell, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey announced Sunday.

Omar Rivera-Rojas (a.k.a. Juan Carlos Rivera-Rojas), 32, of Lakewood, along with his nephew, Alberto Rojas-Hernandez, 20, also of Lakewood, both pleaded guilty to the charges on Friday, Sept. 23, before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Marc C. LeMieux, Linskey said in a news release.

The victim was Domingo Merino-Rafael, 33, also of Lakewood.

The prosecutor's office said the three men were driving through Howell on Oct. 18, 2019, when they got into an argument and the two men hit Merino-Rafael with a machete to the back of his head.

Sentencing for both Rivera-Rojas and Rojas-Hernandez is scheduled for March 3, before LeMieux.

The state will recommend a 22-year state prison term for Rivera-Rojas and a 20-year state prison term for Rojas-Hernandez. Both sentences would be subject to the No Early Release Act with an 85 percent period of parole ineligibility, the prosecutor's office said.

The prosecutor's office recounted the events in the incident:

On Oct. 18, 2019 Howell police responded to a call at about 3:46 a.m. about an unconscious male lying on Hurley Pond Road, just east of Route 547.

The man was lying face-down in the roadway. The man was identified as Domingo Merino-Rafael and was unresponsive. He was pronounced dead at 4:12 a.m. by doctors at Newark Beth Israel Hospital, where he was taken, the news release said.

The incident was initially investigated as a fatal hit and run motor vehicle incident, but after further investigation it was determined not to be a hit and run.

A post-mortem examination performed by Medical Examiner Dr. Allison Mautone and the staff of the Middlesex County Medical Examiner’s Office determined the cause of death was homicide by multiple chop wounds to the head, the prosecutor's news release said.

A joint investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and Howell Township Police Department determined Rivera-Rojas, Rojas-Hernandez and Merino-Rafael traveled from Lakewood to Middlesex County on the evening of Oct. 17, 2019.

The men were returning to Lakewood in the early morning hours of Oct. 18 when the trio got into an argument that ended with the uncle and nephew attacking Merino-Rafael, the prosecutor's office said. Both men admitted that they each struck the victim in the back of the head with a machete, the prosecutor's office said.

The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the Howell Township Police Department thanked the Lakewood Police Department and the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office for their assistance during the investigation.

The case is being handled by Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutors Stephanie Dugan and Tara Wilson.

Rojas-Hernandez is represented by Joseph Champagne of Toms River. Rivera-Rojas is represented by Carlos Diaz-Cobo of New Brunswick.