ELIZABETH — Elijah Henderson was killed by a single gunshot wound to the head, forensic pathologist Zhongx Hua testified today in Superior Court in Elizabeth. Hua, who performed an autopsy on the 13-year-old Elijah, said the bullet first hit the boy’s skull, then traveled to underlying brain tissue. Hua said he recovered bullet fragments from Elijah’s brain. "Is there...
Edariel "Riddick" Melendez is accused of fatally shooting middle schooler Elijah Henderson in 2007. Melendez appears with his lawyer Fredric Pearson in Union County Superior Court in Elizabeth in this May 2010 file photo.
ELIZABETH — Elijah Henderson was killed by a single gunshot wound to the head, forensic pathologist Zhongx Hua testified today in Superior Court in Elizabeth.
Hua, who performed an autopsy on the 13-year-old Elijah, said the bullet first hit the boy’s skull, then traveled to underlying brain tissue. Hua said he recovered bullet fragments from Elijah’s brain.
"Is there any contributing cause to this young man’s death than a bullet to the brain?" asked Assistant Prosecutor Bruce Holmes.
Hua was questioned during the trial of Edariel "Riddick" Melendez, who is accused of killing the eighth-grader in a case of mistaken identity in 2007. Melendez, who was 19 years old at the time and an alleged member of the Crips street gang, is also accused of also fatally shooting another person just days later.
Henderson was shot in the head while riding on the back of a bicycle pedaled by a friend along an Elizabeth street in Elizabeth about 12:30 a.m. on Nov. 12, after the boys had sneaked out of the house during a sleepover, authorities said.
Melendez is also accused of killing 54-year-old Celso Pedra two days after Elijah’s death. The shootings happened just blocks apart, authorities said.
Authorities have said they believe the two homicides were retribution for the Nov. 11 killing of Rahshad Thomas, a member of the Crips known as "Twin."
Melendez had mistakenly believed Pedra, a construction worker, and the three eighth-graders on bikes were members of the rivals Bloods gang, authorities said.
A second Elizabeth man, Bryant "Smoke" Lee, then 19, is also charged in the killings and will be tried separately.
Pedra died of multiple organ failure from complications of the gunshot wound, said Hua, who also performed an autopsy on the victim. The bullet that shot through his neck injured his spinal cord, leaving the man paralyzed from the chest down.
As a result, Pedra could not breathe without a ventilator and the lack of movement resulted in multiple episodes of pneumonia, ending in multiple organ failures, Hua said. A bullet was also recovered from Pedra’s back, he said.
During cross examination, Melendez’s defense attorney Fredric Pearson asked Hua if the demise of a patient who becomes paralyzed is inevitable. Hua responded that if the patient had severe medical diseases, he probably would not have lasted four weeks, as Pedra had.
"Because of the paralysis, he could not breathe by himself and (with) the lack of movement for a prolonged period of time, the end result was multiple system failure," Hue testified.
The trial continues Tuesday.