NJ man convicted of murdering 2 children, woman over Facebook post

NEWARK, N.J. — A New Jersey man could spend the rest of his life in prison after a jury convicted him Saturday on a host of charges related to a 2016 killing spree linked to a comment on Facebook.

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Jeremy Arrington, 31, was convicted on 28 charges, including three counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder, burglary, criminal restraint and weapons charges, according to Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens II.

According to court documents, Aerial Little Whitehurst, 8, and Al-Jahon Whitehurst, 11, were stabbed to death in their Newark apartment in November 2016, while a third victim, 23-year-old Syasia McBurroughs, was shot to death, NJ.com reported.

Prosecutors alleged during the 10-day trial that Arrington broke into the apartment, tied up the six occupants and tortured them, WABC reported.

“The attack was apparently prompted by a comment on Facebook,” Stephens said in a prepared statement.

At a 2016 press conference announcing Arrington’s arrest, prosecutors said that Arrington had been a suspect in an earlier shooting and sexual assault. One of the stabbing victims had reposted an alert on Facebook, which motivated Arrington to attack six people in the Whitehurst home, NJ.com reported, citing prosecutors.

Three others, including a 29-year-old woman and 13-year-old twins, were stabbed but survived the attack, authorities said.

“Police were able to respond before more lives were lost as a result of (a) young girl with autism who escaped and called for help from her phone in a closet,” Stephens stated.

According to authorities, Arrington fled before police arrived but was arrested later after a brief standoff at a home on Pomona Avenue, NJ.com reported.

Arrington will be sentenced on April 8, WABC reported.

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