Accused Keansburg Killer Pleads Not Guilty In Rape, Murder Of Girl, 11

KEANSBURG, NJ — Andreas Erazo, the 19-year-old Keansburg teen accused of raping and then murdering his 11-year-old downstairs neighbor, Abbiegail Smith, pleaded not guilty to all the charges Monday, Oct. 23 in court.

On the evening of July 12, 2017, he is accused of raping the little girl at knifepoint, and then stabbing her in the neck and strangling her with a computer cord, killing her. Her unclothed body was found a day later outside his bedroom window, wrapped in a sheet and comforter. Erazo is charged with aggravated sexual assault, murder, felony murder and a weapons offense for the knife. As Erazo sat clad in a bright-yellow jumpsuit Monday morning, he pleaded not guilty to all the charges, NJ.com reported.

In an earlier court hearing in July, Monmouth County prosecutors said that Erazo admitted killing the girl during a nine-hour interrogation with detectives immediately after he was arrested. But his defense attorneys are challenging that confession.

"At no point during this interrogation did Mr. Erazo admit the knowing and purposeful murder, which are the necessary elements of this offense the state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt," Courtney Schneider, a public defender representing Erazo, according to NJ.com.

Monmouth County prosecutors are seeking life in prison without parole for Erazo. The case appears to be heading to trial as prosecutors are not offering a deal to Erazo.

All photos by Carly Baldwin/Patch