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A New Jersey man was convicted for the brutal murder of two children and a college student he killed after he broke into a house because he was angry over a Facebook post, prosecutors announced Saturday.
Jeremy Arrington, 31, was found guilty on a slew of charges related to a 2016 Newark home invasion where he bound and tortured six people inside, killing three and stabbing three others, the Essex County prosecutor said.
Arrington fatally stabbed 8-year-old Aerial Little Whitehurst and 11-year-old Al-Jahon Whitehurst, then fatally shot 23-year-old Syasia McBorroughs — a college student who had been visiting the family.
The children’s mother, 29, and two 13-year-old twins — a boy and a girl — were stabbed but survived, reports said.
The killer’s deadly rage came after one of of the stabbing victims had allegedly reposted a police alert on Facebook that named Arrington as a suspect in an earlier shooting and sexual assault, officials said, according to NJ.com.
Arrington broke into the Whitehurst residence in November 2016 in the middle of the day with a loaded gun and tied up all of the residents, prosecutors said. He then tortured them with kitchen knives.
The female twin managed to escape and called police while hiding inside of a closet, prosecutors said.
Arrington fled before police arrived, but was later arrested following a standoff with law enforcement, NJ.com reported.
The children were transported to University Hospital in Newark, where they were pronounced dead. McBurroughs died at the scene.
On Saturday, Arrington was found guilty on 28 charges including three counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder, burglary, criminal restraint and weapons charges, according to Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens, II.
His sentencing has been scheduled for April 18, where he faces possible life imprisonment.
“We are forever grateful to the courageous survivors and witnesses who testified as well as the investigative personnel who helped bring this defendant to justice. Hopefully this verdict will bring some form of justice to all of the families and friends affected by this defendant’s horrific actions,” Deputy Chief Assistant Prosecutor Justice Edwab said in a statement.
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