Grand Jury Indicts 4 Suspects In Short Hills Mall Slaying Last Year
NEWARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Four men were indicted Wednesday on charges that they shot and killed a man during a carjacking at the Short Hills Mall in New Jersey last December.
Hanif Thompson, 29, of Irvington; Karif Ford, 32, of Newark; Basim Henry, 33, of Newark; and Kevin Roberts, 35, of Newark, are all charged with murder, felony murder, carjacking, conspiracy, possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose in the shooting that killed Hoboken attorney Dustin Friedland, 30, in the parking lot of the mall on Dec. 15 of last year.
They all pleaded not guilty in January.
Each of the four suspects was indicted by an Essex County grand jury Thursday on six counts of including murder, felony murder, carjacking, conspiracy and weapons offenses.
All are scheduled to be arraigned on the new indictment on Oct. 14 before Essex County Judge Ronald D. Wigler, prosecutors said.
Friedland and his wife, Jamie Friedland, were leaving the upscale shopping center when they were confronted by two armed men as they were getting into their 2012 Range Rover on the third-floor parking deck, prosecutors said. Jamie was unharmed, but Dustin was shot in the head and later died at an area hospital.
Tapes of 911 calls released this past winter suggested it may have taken an ambulance as long as 30 minutes to get to Friedland, 30, after he was shot during the carjacking.
Jamie Friedland later filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the mall owners and operators, security contractors, and the Millburn-Short Hills Volunteer First Aid Squad.
Prosecutors have said the couple was targeted because of their expensive vehicle.
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