ORANGE — An 18-year-old township man who was indicted on charges he killed a 69-year-old woman during a botched robbery in her home last fall knew the victim, authorities said. The defendant, Amir Johnson, is charged with murder, felony murder, burglary, robbery and receiving stolen property in connection with the Oct. 22, 2010, killing of Luz Hernandez, the Essex...
A file photo of what appears to be a boot print and police fingerprint dust on the front door of a home at 472 Flagg St. in Orange during a police investigation of the homicide death of 69-year-old grandmother Luz Hernandez.ORANGE — An 18-year-old township man who was indicted on charges he killed a 69-year-old woman during a botched robbery in her home last fall knew the victim, authorities said.
The defendant, Amir Johnson, is charged with murder, felony murder, burglary, robbery and receiving stolen property in connection with the Oct. 22, 2010, killing of Luz Hernandez, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office said today in announcing the indictment.
Hernandez died of asphyxiation, autopsy results showed, but no further information was given.
Authorities say Johnson, who was 17 at the time of the killing, entered Hernandez’s multi-family Flagg Street home that day with the intention of robbing her. At some point, there was a confrontation and Johnson killed Hernandez, who was alone at the time, the prosecutor’s office said. Hernandez’s body was discovered by her 11-year-old granddaughter, who had returned from school that day, and who had been staying with her at the time, neighbors said.
Johnson allegedly stole a television, a cell phone and a handgun belonging to the victim’s daughter, who is an officer with the Essex County Department of Corrections, said Thomas Fennelly, Essex County chief assistant prosecutor.
Investigators were able to track down Johnson through the stolen phone and television, Fennelly said. The items were eventually recovered, including the daughter’s service weapon, he said. The defendant was arrested a week after the killing at a bus depot in Norfolk, Va., then extradited to New Jersey.
Because Johnson was a minor at the time of the killing, the prosecutor’s office petitioned that he be waived up to adult status, which a Superior Court judge granted.
Previous coverage:
• Woman's death shakes an already-anxious Orange neighborhood