Man Who Confessed To NJ Child Murder, Rape Wins Appeal

KEANSBURG, NJ — A New Jersey appeals court ruled this week that local police violated a convicted murderer's Miranda rights before he confessed to killing an 11-year-old girl in 2017.

The decision by the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division on Monday means Andreas Erazo, 23, can now withdraw his guilty plea, leaving open the possibility of a new trial in the murder case.

Prosecutors vowed to appeal to the New Jersey Supreme Court. Erazo will remain in prison as his case proceeds through the court system. His appeal case was argued by Morgan Birck, a Monmouth County public defender.

Erazo, of Keansburg, is currently serving a sentence of life in prison in the 2017 rape and murder of Abbiegail Smith, his 11-year-old downstairs neighbor.

Erazo pleaded guilty on Feb. 25, 2019, to first-degree murder and aggravated sexual assault of a person under 13 years of age. At his plea hearing, he admitted to raping the girl and intentionally causing her death by stabbing her in the neck.

He was sentenced to life in prison in May 2021. His lawyer appealed the case shortly after sentencing.

The Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office on Tuesday said it disagreed with the appeals court decision and will take the case to the New Jersey Supreme Court, the state's highest court.

"We are aware of the appellate court’s decision and will be filing a petition for certification with the New Jersey Supreme Court because we believe this decision fails to align with the requirements of Miranda," Prosecutor's Office spokesman Christopher Swendeman said.

The New Jersey appeals court ruled that a detective with the county prosecutor's office and a Keansburg police officer failed to correctly read Erazo his Miranda rights during questioning.

You can read the appeals court decision here. The appeals court decision said the following.

• When police first brought Erazo to the Keansburg Police Department for questioning, they never told him he was free to leave, to get up to use the restroom or to make a phone call. It appears he was not under arrest at this time and was simply being questioned by police.
• He was then taken to an interview room, where two officers questioned him for nearly an hour and a half, but did not advise him of his Miranda rights. It was during that interview that Erazo told police he suffered from mental health issues and that he had attempted suicide in the past.
• It was not until police began a second interview that they then read Erazo his Miranda rights. It was during the second interview that Erazo confessed to unintentionally killing the girl after he said he "suddenly found her in his apartment" that summer night. When asked if he sexually assaulted her, he said he could not remember and that he had "blacked out."

After placing someone under arrest, police are required by law to tell a person the following: “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have a right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you.”

The case deals with the death of a girl who went missing on the night of July 12, 2017. Erazo, then 18, and Smith both lived in the same apartment building on Hancock Street in Keansburg.

Smith's mother reported her missing to Keansburg police and said she last saw her daughter at 8 p.m. She said that she believed the girl went to apartment 16A, the apartment directly above theirs, where Erazo lived with his mother and brother.

Prosecutors said Erazo raped the girl at knifepoint that night, then stabbed her in the neck and strangled her with a computer cord, killing her.

Her body was found on a roof beneath a window of Erazo's apartment at 10:30 a.m. the next day, wrapped in a mattress cover from Erazo's bedroom.

During a nine-hour police interrogation after he was arrested, Erazo admitted to killing the girl.

Investigators also found blood stains on his bedroom window and a knife, which they presumed to be the murder weapon, nearby. When Smith's family heard the details in court — plus the fact that her body was found not wearing underwear or pants — many of them openly wept.

Smith was known by other residents in the area as a friendly little girl. She could often be seen playing outside in the apartment building's front yard and often waved to people walking by. She had just graduated from fifth grade at Bolger Middle School.

Original Patch reporting on the murder of Abbiegail Smith.

Murdered Keansburg Girl Was Also Raped, Grand Jury Indicts (2017)

Arrest Made In Killing Of 11-Year-Old Keansburg Girl (2017)

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