Newark Man Who Murdered 2 Kids, Woman Gets 375-Year Jail Sentence

Newark NJ

11 April, 2022

10:00 AM

Description

NEWARK, NJ — A Newark man was sentenced to 375 years in prison on Friday for murdering three people and attempting to murder three more after becoming enraged over a Facebook comment in 2016, authorities said. According to the Essex County Prosecutor's Office, Jeremy Arrington, 32, received three consecutive life sentences for fatally stabbing two young siblings, Ariel Little Whitehurst, a 7-year-old female, and her 11-year-old brother, Al-Jahon Whitehurst, as well as fatally shooting Syasia McBurroughs, a 23-year-old friend of the family who was visiting on Nov. 5, 2016. Prosecutors released the following statement about the murders: "On Saturday Nov. 5, 2016, Arrington unlawfully entered the Whitehurst home located on the 100-block of Hedden Terrace in Newark while armed with a loaded firearm. The evidence at trial revealed Arrington then tied up the individuals located inside the apartment and proceeded to torture them by stabbing them with kitchen knives. The stabbings resulted in the death of the two children. The defendant then shot and killed McBurroughs, who was pronounced dead at the scene. The children were pronounced dead at University Hospital. Three other stabbing victims were saved by emergency medical personnel. One of the survivors of the stabbing, a 29-year-old female, is the mother of the two murdered children. The other two surviving stab victims, a 13-year-old male and his twin 13-year-old sister, were siblings of the 29-year-old female. Police were able to respond because a young girl with autism, who is unrelated to the family and was just visiting, escaped and called for help from her phone in a closet." Arrington fled the scene before the police were able to apprehend him. He was captured the next day, Nov. 6, barricaded in a residence on the 200-block of Pomona Avenue, prosecutors said. Arrington was eventually convicted of 28 criminal counts, including three counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder, burglary, criminal restraint, unlawful possession of a handgun, unlawful possession of a knife, and possession of a handgun and a knife for an unlawful purpose. See related article: Man Convicted Of Triple Murder In Newark; 2 Kids, Woman Mourned Deputy Chief Assistant Prosecutor Justin Edwab, who tried the case with Assistant Prosecutor Chelsea Coleman, said they argued for six consecutive life sentences given the number of people who were tortured and killed and Arrington's lengthy prior criminal record. From 2006 to 2016, Arrington was arrested 10 times. He had four felony convictions and had three different pending charges when he entered the Whitehurst home that day in November, authorities said. In addition to the three consecutive life sentences for murder, Ronald Wigler – the judge who presided over Arrington's 10-day jury trial – imposed consecutive 50-year sentences for each of the three attempted murder convictions for the surviving victims. Under the No Early Release Act, Arrington would have to serve a total of 281 years of his 375-year sentence before being eligible for parole, prosecutors said. "While nothing can bring back the lives of Ariel, Al-Jahon, and Syasia, we hope today's sentence will provide some sense of closure to their families," Coleman said. Sign up for Patch email newsletters. Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site. Keep updated with local public safety alerts at the Patch Newark Facebook page. Send local news tips and correction requests to [email protected]