Man Who Wielded Machete in Newark Schoolyard Slayings Sentenced to 212 Years in Prison

The third suspect in the 2007 triple slaying of college-bound friends in Newark's West Ward was sentenced Thursday in New Jersey Superior Court to 212 years in prison.

"Today is not a sad day for me, it's a day of justice for my angel, Iofemi," said Shagla Hightower to Judge Michael L. Ravin about the death of her daughter. "I am no longer a victim. I'm a victor. I'm a survivor."

The killings rocked the Ivy Hill neighborhood and shocked the city. 

Alexander Alfaro, a 20-year-old Newarker, was convicted on 16 of 17 counts against him in April, including the deaths of Iofemi Hightower, 20, Dashon Harvey, 20, and Terrance Aeriel, 18. Another victim, Natasha Aeriel, then 19, was seriously injured in the incident.

The four students were behind Mount Vernon School when they were approached by six men, including Alfaro. Hightower, Harvey and Terrance Aerial were lined up and shot in the back of the head. Natasha Aeriel was shot in the face, but survived. Alfaro, then 16, had used a machete to torture and attack Hightower in the head and back before being shot, according to prosecutors.

Alfaro, an admitted member of the MS-13 gang, wore a green jumpsuit and entered the courtroom with his head up as the victims' family and friends wept in the gallery. When asked by Ravin to give a statement, Alfaro simply answered, "No, your honor," as his attorney, Raymond Marossi, stood beside him. He continued to remain silent as Ravin acted out Alfari's machete attack by slashing the air with his fists.

Family members of the victims spoke emotionally, but respectfully towards Alfaro during the hour-and-a-half sentencing.

"What you did was very wrong. Were you going crazy that night? Would you like if someone had a machete and cut you up like that," said Ahmad Bradshaw, a cousin of Terrance Aeriel, as he teared up at the podium. "He was a strong believer in the Lord. I loved him very much."

James Harvey, Dashon Harvey's father, said his son was an "inspirational" person. "I can't say enough about how it feels to lose my son, my only son. He was a positive individual who inspired me to reach high heights," he said. "There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about him, his beautiful smile, his hair … It made me proud to be his dad and … I never had the chance to tell him that. I'm proud of you, son."

Alfaro had said he was influenced by his half-brother Rodolfo Godinez to join MS-13 and to take part in the killings.

Thomas McTigue, an Essex County assistant prosecutor on the case, said Alfaro actively participated in the brutal murder, "He had choices, he made the wrong choices and four children of this community have suffered. He took what was an unspeakable tragedy and added an element of horror to it."

Ravin said Alfaro embraced his membership in the MS-13 gang, "That's the life he wanted. It enticed him."

Ravin used graphic language to describe Alfaro's actions, "The machete-wielding Alexander Alfaro hacked (Hightower's) head and hacked her body … The force he used to hack her skull with the machete was such that the blade was embedded in her skull and he had to pry the blade out." As he spoke, Hightower's family wept in response. "That's the evidence of what he did. That's how Alfaro sent her to the afterlife."

Godinez and Melvin Joel, who admitted shooting the victims, were found guilty last year and sentenced to life in prison. The other three suspects, Gerardo Gomez, 18, Jose Carranza, 32, and Shahid Baskerville, 19, are still awaiting trial. McTigue said the next trial is likely to begin in October, though he did not know which suspect would be next.