A 22-year-old New Jersey man has been charged with seven murders and one attempted murder in what authorities have called a “horrific” two-month-long shooting spree that kept police in pursuit but always left them one step behind until the end.
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West is charged with killing three people and wounding a fourth in Elizabeth…
Two other men, 23-year-old Kareem Mitchell and 20-year-old Robert Jourdain were charged with homicide as West’s accomplices.
Todd was arrested in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on Monday in connection with the shooting deaths of two people in Allentown and another in Easton, Pennsylvania, according to a statement from Park’s office.
Todd West is accused of using a handgun to shoot the victims to death in New Jersey and Pennsylvania over the last three months.
Late that night while investigators were still trying to piece together the details of Vega’s death, authorities said, West allegedly struck again, fatally shooting 29-year-old Jamil Payne in the same town.
The killings began in Elizabeth, New Jersey, in mid-May and ended 70 miles away in Pennsylvania on Sunday, when three people were shot in the middle of the night, two as they sat in a auto. It was unclear whether he had hired an attorney or been assigned a public defender.
The New Jersey violence started about 2:30 a.m. on June 25, prosecutors said. The victim was later identified as Vega, who was shot several times, according to Parks. That was Payne, who was shot multiple times.
Less than an hour later, Francine Ramos, 32, was found dead of gunshot wounds in the driver’s seat of a vehicle in Allentown.
Allentown police said West confessed to the killings in Allentown and Easton. Marte suffered severe gunshot wounds but is expected to survive. Authorities also learned that the same. The same. 38 caliber six-shot revolver, found on West at the time of arrest, was used in each of the shootings.
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He is also charged with murder in the fatal shooting on May 18, in Elizabeth, of his cousin Michael Tompkins, (29). They do not appear to be gang-related or spurred by drugs or robbery, Grace Park, the acting Union County prosecutor, said on Thursday, according to the New York Times.
