R&B-Singing Morristown Teen Indicted in Murder

A Morristown teen has been indicted on several charges in the death of 47-year-old Summit resident Abelino Mazariego.

Nigel Dumas, 18, of Morristown, is one of several implicated in the death, which the Union County Prosecutor's Office describes as a robbery gone wrong.

Hakean Fitzgerald, 18, a sophomore at Summit High School who was waived to adult court on Jan. 13; Khayri Williams-Clark, 20, of Summit; and Dumas were indicted on charges of felony murder, first-degree murder and robbery, First Assistant Union County Prosecutor Albert Cernadas Jr. announced Friday. Two additional juveniles were charged in July with conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, conspiracy to commit robbery, robbery and aggravated assault.

Union County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow said at a July 30 press conference that on the night of July 17, a 17-year-old and 15-year-old served as lookouts while Williams-Clark, Dumas and the third unidentified minor planned to rob Mazariego, who was relaxing on a park bench in the Promenade on Springfield Avenue after finishing his shift as a food-preparation worker and dishwasher at .

Mazariego was consuming alcohol when the teens approached him, Romankow said. The teens discovered that Mazariego had just cashed his paycheck, so they decided to rob him, Romankow said.

"It was a crime of opportunity," he said.

The prosecutor's office alleges Williams-Clark stood behind Mazariego and held the victim's white T-shirt, which he had removed himself while lounging in the Promenade, over Mazariego's head, while the 17-year-old punched him with brutal force. Dumas then punched the victim a second time, according to the prosecutor's office.

The attack was recorded on a cell phone by a teen in the area. The force of the blows knocked Mazariego unconscious and the teenagers then fled the scene, Romankow said. However, the teen who videotaped the attack is not being charged, Romankow said.

"We don't believe that he knew there was going to be a robbery," Romankow said.

Prosecutor's say the teens involved in the attack fled the Promenade and went to nearby  when they realized they had forgotten to take Mazariego's money and wristwatch. By the time they allegedly returned to the scene, approximately 15 minutes later, good Samaritans had discovered the victim slumped over on a bench, bleeding from the mouth and called the police.

However, authorities did not know at the time that a crime had been committed. Police didn't begin a criminal investigation on July 19, it wasn't until Mazariego's wife, Julia Celina, notified the police that a video of her husband being beaten had surfaced.

When Mazariego was admitted to the hospital on July 17 it was at first thought he may have had a stroke or a brain aneurysm because of the bleeding in his brain. Mazariego was unconscious when he was admitted and never regained consciousness. He died on July 20.

All in all, Romankow said, 14 teenagers, including several more from Morristown, witnessed the crime that night. He says that only the five charged knew what was going to transpire.

"We're confident that we charged the right number of people," he said.

Romankow said that he does believe that the teens punched Mazariego in the jaw with the intention of hurting him. He said that Mazariego was defenseless because he'd been drinking alcohol. The prosecutor's office has yet to release his blood-alcohol level.

"I don't think he was targeted as a Latino," Romankow said.

Stephan Randolph, a nurse at , was also charged with theft for . Randolph, 39, of Flemington, was on duty at the hospital when emergency workers brought in Mazariego, who was suffering from severe head trauma, said Romankow. Randolph has worked for Overlook for five years, Atlantic Health officials said.

Williams-Clark, Dumas and Fitzgerald will have a first court appearance scheduled in the coming weeks, according to John Holl of the Union County Prosecutor's Office.

Romankow also said in July that the incident on July 17 had no connection to Mazariego's son Jose, 23, who is currently being held on luring charges from June. Mazariego's other son, Abelino, 26, was arrested in September on forgery charges for allegedly forging a donation check given to the family in the aftermath of his father's death.

Morristown Teen

Dumas, who ran track for Morristown High School in recent years and graduated in 2010, has performed as an R&B musician under the name "Robby Guarantee." 

His booking agent, reached in July after Dumas' arrest, said he couldn't imagine his client and friend being involved in such a violent crime.

"If anything, the only thing I can see is that he was with the wrong crowd at the wrong time," the booking agent, George Clapps said. "You get accused—everyone gets the same charge."

Clapps first met Dumas more than two years ago while they attended Calvary Baptist Church in Morristown.

"He just wants to be successful in life. ... This is completely out of left field," Clapps said.