The acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, Alina Habba, has declared that a 14-year-old gang member charged with the murder of a Newark police detective will face adult charges in federal court. Her commitment to combating violent crime in the Garden State is resolute.
The adolescent suspect, purportedly a member of the notorious Bloods gang, stands accused of fatally shooting Detective Joseph Azcona in Newark the previous month. The incident occurred while the detective was seated in his police vehicle, resulting in the tragic death of Azcona and injuries to another officer.
“We’ll be charging that minor as an adult. We filed the papers yesterday,” Habba revealed in an interview with the New York Post on Wednesday, during her participation in a coordinated law enforcement operation targeting wanted criminals in Brick City.
Interim New Jersey US Attorney Alina Habba, left, and slain Detective Joseph Azcona, right. Habba has announced that a 14-year-old gang member accused of fatally shooting Azcona will be charged as an adult in federal court as she vowed to crack down on violent crime in the Garden State. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images, left, and Newark Police Department, right.)
The slain officer was part of a team of Newark police detectives and federal agents that had gone to capture a suspect in an illegal weapons sting when the officer was fired on in his vehicle, authorities said.
The other officer who was struck was hospitalized with injuries that were not life-threatening, authorities said. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka called the shooting a “heinous, callous disregard for humanity” and that officers had gone to the scene knowing that “grave danger was possible.”
During Wednesday’s raid, law enforcement arrested an 18-year-old alleged Bloods gang member with a history of weapons charges and wanted for aggravated assault after an incident in which he allegedly shot two people, the Post reported.
Attorney Alina Habba speaks to the media outside of court during opening statements in President Donald Trump’s trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments at Manhattan Criminal Court on April 22, 2024, in New York City. (Yuki Iwamura-Pool/Getty Images)
Habba, meanwhile, also outlined her zero tolerance for human trafficking in New Jersey.
“One of my first orders of business was creating a Human Trafficking Task Force and appointing an incredibly talented and passionate Assistant U.S. Attorney to lead it,” Habba wrote on X Wednesday.
“The World Cup will be hosted in New Jersey in 2026 and it will be safe. WE WILL BE READY!”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
