Samson Theodore ‘Freedom’ Hearn, center, and Eric Joel ‘Pun’ Figueras, right, have agreed to testify at the trial of alleged gunman Antonio ‘Mingo’ Suarez-Perez, left.
Two of the three men charged in last February’s double slaying on Locust Avenue in Red Bank have agreed to testify against the alleged shooter, according to a report published by the Asbury Park Press on Friday.
Borough resident Eric Joel ‘Pun’ Figueras and Fair Haven’s Samson Theodore Hearn, nicknamed ‘Freedom,’ have already entered guilty pleas to a charge of hindering apprehension, Assistant Monmouth County Prosecutor Peter Warshaw tells the newspaper.
They face up to five years in prison, and are expected to be sentenced after the trial of Antonio Suarez-Perez, nicknamed ‘Mingo,’ who authorities say brutally shot two men in an attempt to steal cocaine at about 1:35a February 10.
Tags marked the location of evidence found at the scene on February 10, 2009.
Slain were 26-year-old Sidney Wakefield of Long Branch, who was shot some five times as he lay on the street after trying to escape the gunman, and Wakefields longtime friend, 23-year-old Joseph Fann, of Middletwon, who was killed inside Wakefields white 1998 Lexus.
Authorities said at the time that the attempted robbery and killings followed by several hours a “chance encounter” involving the five men at a local gas station. A primary motive in the crime, they said, was the theft of cocaine.
Red Bank Patrolman James DePonte was credited at the time for capturing the suspects, without incident, a short time later in Middletown.
Warshaw tells the Press that Hearn entered his plea in December and that Figueras followed on January 6, both before Superior Court Judge Ronald Lee Reisner in Freehold. Figueras and Hearn each admitted to helping Suarez-Perez get away from the scene following the shooting, Warshaw, said.
No trial date for Suarez-Perez is given in the article.
