By Alicia Cruz
The New Jersey Newsroom
Eyewitnesses are saying at least a dozen men were present when Abelino Mazariego was brutally beaten to death by two Summit teenagers last weekend and at least one of them, a 19-year-old young man, has come forward to speak out about what he saw.
One of the teens present at the site of the senseless beating caught it on video with his cell phone, The Star-Ledger reported. Another witness to the attack, Alex Ruiz, said he was in the Summit Promenade with a bunch of friends when he saw Mazariego, who had no shirt on, sitting on a bench.
Ruiz went on to say that the 17-year-old, whose identity has not been released, sat down next to the man on the bench while another stood behind Mazariego, grabbed what appears in the video, to be the man's T-shirt and pulled it over his face. That's when the beating began. Ruiz said the 17-year-old punched Mazariego in the face and head
knocking him unconscious instantly.
Ruiz, 19, who said nothing preceded the attack on Mazariego, added that they never thought Mazariego would die. Neither Ruiz nor the teen who recorded the incident has been charged.
Summit police and the Union County Prosecutor’s Office refused to discuss the case or comment on Ruiz’s claims, but a video of the attack — obtained by the local ABC news affiliate — appears to support Ruiz's version of the events.
Neighbors who knew the 17-year-old arrested for the beating say he was a good kid who had a temper. Thomas Hillas, 53, who lived down the street from the 17-year-old told The Star-Ledger the teen often played video games with his son.
"I can’t say he was a monster," said Hillas.
Members of Summit’s Latino community said they were surprised such a crime had occurred there. Many, like Ismael Rodriguez, 28, a Mexican-born house painter described Summit as a small and peaceful town.
Mazeriego's attack was the second in less then month committed by teenagers against older, foreign-born individuals brought on, seemingly, by nothing more than stupidity. The beating death of 49-year-old Divyendu Sinha, of Old Bridge occurred on June 25.
Sinha, a scientist and former professor, who graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology in 1982, authored a number of technical papers on computer scientist. He was a native of India and was beaten in his front yard while his wife and children looked on helplessly. He died days later of his injuries.
Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan said he planned to file a motion to try the suspects responsible for Sinha's death — four 17-year-olds and a 16-year-old — as adults.
Mazeriego, 47, a native of El Salvador, had lived in the United States for 13 years and was remembered by friends and family as a "a very good person," well-known, hard-working and very responsible.
A friend of Mazeriego's, Victor Rosales, who is from Mexico and works as a painter said he believed the attack on his friend was because he was Hispanic. Summit Mayor Jordan Giatt expressed his own shock at the crime saying he was saddened.
"It’s not at all the character of our community," Giatt said. "It’s a wake-up call to the world we live in. I just can’t get my head around it."
On Friday, a small memorial was erected at the bench where Mazariego was attacked. Several flowers adorn the bench he was sitting on when he was attacked, along with the photograph of him.
"I want the people to pay for what they did to my father," said Mazariego’s son, Avelino, 26. "My family is suffering. I miss my father."
The funeral visitation for Mazariego, a father of four, is scheduled for Saturday from 5 to 10 p.m. at the Dangler Funeral Home in Summit. The funeral mass is to be celebrated Monday morning at St. Theresa’s RC church in Summit. His body will be returned to El Salvador.
Williams-Clark is scheduled to be arraigned Friday in Elizabeth. He is being held at the Union County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.
The New Jersey Newsroom
Eyewitnesses are saying at least a dozen men were present when Abelino Mazariego was brutally beaten to death by two Summit teenagers last weekend and at least one of them, a 19-year-old young man, has come forward to speak out about what he saw.
One of the teens present at the site of the senseless beating caught it on video with his cell phone, The Star-Ledger reported. Another witness to the attack, Alex Ruiz, said he was in the Summit Promenade with a bunch of friends when he saw Mazariego, who had no shirt on, sitting on a bench.
Ruiz went on to say that the 17-year-old, whose identity has not been released, sat down next to the man on the bench while another stood behind Mazariego, grabbed what appears in the video, to be the man's T-shirt and pulled it over his face. That's when the beating began. Ruiz said the 17-year-old punched Mazariego in the face and head
knocking him unconscious instantly.
Ruiz, 19, who said nothing preceded the attack on Mazariego, added that they never thought Mazariego would die. Neither Ruiz nor the teen who recorded the incident has been charged.
Summit police and the Union County Prosecutor’s Office refused to discuss the case or comment on Ruiz’s claims, but a video of the attack — obtained by the local ABC news affiliate — appears to support Ruiz's version of the events.
Neighbors who knew the 17-year-old arrested for the beating say he was a good kid who had a temper. Thomas Hillas, 53, who lived down the street from the 17-year-old told The Star-Ledger the teen often played video games with his son.
"I can’t say he was a monster," said Hillas.
Members of Summit’s Latino community said they were surprised such a crime had occurred there. Many, like Ismael Rodriguez, 28, a Mexican-born house painter described Summit as a small and peaceful town.
Mazeriego's attack was the second in less then month committed by teenagers against older, foreign-born individuals brought on, seemingly, by nothing more than stupidity. The beating death of 49-year-old Divyendu Sinha, of Old Bridge occurred on June 25.
Sinha, a scientist and former professor, who graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology in 1982, authored a number of technical papers on computer scientist. He was a native of India and was beaten in his front yard while his wife and children looked on helplessly. He died days later of his injuries.
Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan said he planned to file a motion to try the suspects responsible for Sinha's death — four 17-year-olds and a 16-year-old — as adults.
Mazeriego, 47, a native of El Salvador, had lived in the United States for 13 years and was remembered by friends and family as a "a very good person," well-known, hard-working and very responsible.
A friend of Mazeriego's, Victor Rosales, who is from Mexico and works as a painter said he believed the attack on his friend was because he was Hispanic. Summit Mayor Jordan Giatt expressed his own shock at the crime saying he was saddened.
"It’s not at all the character of our community," Giatt said. "It’s a wake-up call to the world we live in. I just can’t get my head around it."
On Friday, a small memorial was erected at the bench where Mazariego was attacked. Several flowers adorn the bench he was sitting on when he was attacked, along with the photograph of him.
"I want the people to pay for what they did to my father," said Mazariego’s son, Avelino, 26. "My family is suffering. I miss my father."
The funeral visitation for Mazariego, a father of four, is scheduled for Saturday from 5 to 10 p.m. at the Dangler Funeral Home in Summit. The funeral mass is to be celebrated Monday morning at St. Theresa’s RC church in Summit. His body will be returned to El Salvador.
Williams-Clark is scheduled to be arraigned Friday in Elizabeth. He is being held at the Union County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.
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