The uncle and nephew charged in connection with a 2019 Howell murder have been indicted, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey said.

Omar Rivera-Rojas (also known as Juan Carlos Rivera-Rojas), 31, and his nephew Alberto Rojas-Hernandez, 19, both of Lakewood, were indicted by a Monmouth County Grand Jury on Monday on the charges of: conspiracy to commit murder, murder, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, unlawful possession of a weapon and tampering with evidence.

The case background …

Howell police responded to a 911 call at 3:46 a.m. on Oct. 18, 2019, reporting an unconscious male lying in Hurley Pond Road just east of Route 547.

Upon arrival, a male was found lying face down in the roadway. The incident was initially investigated as a fatal hit-and-run motor vehicle incident. However, upon the arrival of SCART investigators it was determined that his death was not the result of a hit and run.

The man, identified as Domingo Merino-Rafael, 33, also of Lakewood, was unresponsive. MONOC personnel responded and the victim was pronounced dead at 4:12 a.m. by doctors at Newark Beth Israel Hospital. Rafael was taken to the Middlesex County Regional Medical Examiner’s Office where a post-mortem examination performed by Medical Examiner Allison Mautone, M.D., and the staff of the Middlesex County Medical Examiner’s Office determined the cause of death was a homicide.

A joint investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and Howell Township Police Department determined Rivera-Rojas, Rojas-Hernandez, and Merino-Rafael traveled from Lakewood to Middlesex County on the evening of Oct. 17, 2019.

The men were returning to Lakewood in the early morning hours of Oct. 18, 2019, when the trio got into an argument that culminated with the uncle and nephew killing Merino-Rafael.

Rojas-Hernandez, of Joe Parker Avenue in Lakewood, is being held in the Youth Detention Center in North Brunswick where he has been in custody since his arrest in October of 2019.

Rojas-Hernandez who was just 7 months shy of his 18th birthday at the time of the murder was previously waived to adult court to face the charges alongside his uncle and co-conspirator. Rivera-Rojas has also been detained since his arrest.

If convicted of Murder, Rivera-Rojas and Rojas-Hernandez each face a minimum sentence of 30 years in a New Jersey state prison without parole and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, subject to the provisions of the No Early Release Act (NERA), requiring them to serve 85 percent of the sentence imposed before becoming eligible for release on parole.

— Edited press release from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office

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