14-year-old gang member accused of killing Newark detective will be charged as an adult, Alina Habba reveals
NEWARK — The 14-year-old gang member accused of fatally shooting a Newark detective will be charged as an adult in federal court, interim New Jersey US Attorney Alina Habba revealed to The Post Wednesday.
The Garden State’s newly minted top prosecutor also issued a stark warning to underage violent offenders as she vowed to clean up crime in the state.
“We’ll be charging that minor as an adult. We filed the papers yesterday. The message is very clear: If you’re a child, I don’t care. If you shoot a cop, you’re getting tried as an adult. I have no tolerance for violence and we’re gonna clean up New Jersey,” she said.
New Jersey state law prohibits charging offenders under age 15 as adults, but Habba said her office filed papers to take the case to federal court where the teen will be eligible.
Habba said she specifically requested the case after meeting the slain officer’s family at a Mass this week.
“He’s 14 years old, he’s part of a gang — he shot a cop who came out to get him and the officer is now dead. He was 26 years old,” Habba said referring to Detective Joseph Azcona, who was fatally ambushed in his cop car on March 7.
Habba, a former attorney for President Trump who was recently appointed US attorney for New Jersey, accompanied a multi-agency law enforcement raid on wanted criminals in Brick City on Wednesday morning.
One of the men arrested was Zakiyy Houser, 18, a Bloods gang member with a history of weapons charges and wanted for aggravated assault after an incident in which he allegedly shot two people.
Habba said Houser belonged to the same gang as the alleged 14-year-old cop-killer.
The Post reached out to the NJ United States Attorney’s Office for clarification on how it intends to justify moving the teen’s case to federal court but did not immediately hear back.
