|
|
| N.J. Jail Error Frees Youth Suspect in Boy's Death |
| By New York Times |
| Published: 09/19/2003 |
|
The 17-year-old accused in the death of a 7-year-old boy whose decomposed body was found in a basement in January was mistakenly released from jail last week, authorities said. The case exposed serious flaws at New Jersey's child welfare agency. The teenager, Wesley A. Murphy, had been awaiting trial as an adult in the death of the boy, Faheem Williams, his cousin. Mr. Murphy surrendered to the police and was returned to Essex County Jail, said his lawyer, Patricia Weston Rivera. Ms. Rivera said that he came to her Irvington office on last Tuesday afternoon and told her that he had been freed from the jail on Friday without having posted bail. Ms. Rivera said that she wrote a letter to prosecutors, which she faxed and had hand-delivered this morning, asking them to explain the surprise release of her client, whom she had been trying to free through a motion to dismiss the charges and whose family was hoping to post $100,000 bail. 'Have his charges been administratively dismissed?' Ms. Rivera wrote to an assistant prosecutor, Carolyn E. Wright, in the letter. 'Has someone confessed to causing the death of Faheem Williams?' Ms. Wright replied: 'Your client's release was in error. Please have your client surrender himself immediately to the Essex County Sheriff's Department.' The prosecutor concluded her letter, 'I expect you to comply with your ethical and legal obligations with respect to the release in error of your client, who is now considered a fugitive.' Ms. Rivera, who released the letters, said that her client's mother is in jail and his father is homeless, so he had been staying with friends. She had only an indirect way - a telephone number of a friend of Mr. Murphy's - to contact him. Ms. Rivera said that she did not ask her client to turn himself in to the authorities when she first saw him on Tuesday because she did not know that he had been released by mistake. 'I didn't know he was a fugitive,' she said. 'He said that he had a slip of paper saying he had been released on his own recognizance.' Ms. Rivera said the mistaken release called into question the prosecution of the case. 'It shows a comedy of errors on their part,' she said. 'This was the biggest murder case this year. For them to allow him to walk out of jail means they're not serious about prosecuting him.' An embarrassed Joseph N. DiVincenzo Jr., the county executive, whose office supervises the jail, took full responsibility for what he called 'a great mistake' and promised to investigate fully what led to Mr. Murphy's release. Mr. Murphy faces aggravated assault and child endangerment charges in the death of Faheem, who prosecutors believe died of injuries suffered while roughhousing with Mr. Murphy. Faheem's body was discovered Jan. 5, a day after his twin, Raheem, and another brother, Tyrone Hill, 4, were rescued by the police from a locked basement not far from Branch Brook Park in Newark's North Ward. |
advertise
|
privacy policy
|
add URL
|
about us
|
terms/disclaimer
|
contact us
|
join our team
|
help
Comments:
No comments have been posted for this article.
Login to let us know what you think