Crime & Safety

Morristown Man Faces 30 Years For Role in Slayings

In exchange for guilty plea, murder charges dropped against Shahid Baskerville, 20.

A Morristown man faces 30 years in prison after pleading guilty Friday to several offenses in connection with a 2007 triple murder of three college students in Newark.

Shahid Baskerville, 20, pleaded guilty to four counts of robbery, one count of conspiracy and one count of aggravated criminal sexual contact, according to a statement released by the Essex County Prosecutor's Office.

In exchange for his guilty plea, three counts of murder, three counts of felony murder and one count of attempted murder were all dismissed, the prosecutor's office said.

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Sentencing has been tentatively scheduled for March 8, 2012. Baskerville must serve 85 percent of his sentence or 25 years and six months before he is eligible for parole under the No Early Release Act, the prosecutor's office said.

Baskerville will also be subject to lifetime supervision under Megan’s Law when he is released from prison, the prosecutor's office said.

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Baskerville told Judge Michael L. Ravin his role in the Aug. 4, 2007 incident when Iofemi Hightower, Dashon Harvey, both 20, and Terrence Aeriel, 18, all Delaware State students from Newark, were robbed and killed behind the Mount Vernon school playground. A third victim, Natasha Aeriel, was shot and attacked with a machete, but survived.

Rodolfo Godinez, 28, and his younger brother, Alexander Alfaro, 21, have already been found guilty. A third defendant, Melvin Jovel, 22, of Elizabeth, pleaded guilty. Jury selection was recently completed in the case against Jose Carranza, 32, of Newark. He is scheduled to go to trial in Jan. 10. A sixth defendant Gerardo Gomez, 19, of Newark, is still awaiting trial.


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