Nearly three years after an off-duty Weehawken cop was accused of beating a 17-year-old Union Hill High School junior to death, the trial has begun, with the dead teenager’s younger brother serving as a witness.
Alejandro Jaramillo, currently suspended from the Weehawken police department, is the first police officer in Hudson County to stand criminal murder charges in almost a decade.
On July 16, 2003, the younger brothers of 17-year-old Jose Luis Ives, Jr., of Union City, were apparently part of a group allegedly setting off car alarms in Weehawken near the Union City border around 11:45 p.m. One of the brothers apparently became involved in an altercation with an older man. Ives then became involved physically with the man, Jaramillo, who allegedly struck Ives, causing him to fall to the pavement, reportedly hitting his head hard on the ground.
At the scene, Ives went into convulsions, became unconscious, slipped into a coma with a fractured skull, and died from the injuries eight days later. A coroner’s report stated that the teenager died of severe head trauma. Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Alvaro Iglesias will try to prove through witness testimony and medical evidence that Jaramillo actually slammed young Ives’ head against the pavement several times, causing the fatal injuries.
Jaramillo’s attorney, Robert Gallantucci, will insist that it was just an accident, that Ives fell to the pavement as a result of the altercation.
First witness was 10 years old
Ives’ younger brother, Jorge, who was 10 at the time of the incident, was called as the first witness to testify Thursday afternoon. According to published reports, Jorge Ives told the courtroom that Jaramillo slammed his brother’s head against the pavement “at least three times.”
Jorge Ives told the courtroom that Jaramillo blindsided Jose Luis Ives with a sucker punch, knocking him to the ground after the two exchanged words in front of the Ives family home, on the corner of Pleasant Avenue near the border of Weehawken and Union City.
According to the published reports, Jorge Ives told the courtroom that his brother landed on his back. Then, according to Jorge Ives’s testimony, Jaramillo jumped on top of the fallen Ives and repeatedly slammed his head against the street. Then, Jaramillo left the scene.
Gallantucci has maintained all along that Jaramillo ran away to get medical attention, knowing that the teen had been injured as a result of the fall.
However, the autopsy performed on Ives’ body said that the dead teen had suffered several skull fractures as a result of the scuffle.
“The autopsy revealed multiple skull fractures,” Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said at the time of Jaramillo’s indictment for murder in August, 2003. “The coroner said that there were at least two dramatic and distinctive blows to the head. He had his head banged on the pavement and the force was such that it caused multiple skull fractures.”
Jaramillo, now 27, has remained free on $250,000 bail since the time of the arraignment. He is suspended without pay.
Jaramillo, a two-year veteran of the Weehawken Police Department, also faces a lesser charge of official misconduct.
The charge of official misconduct was filed because he allegedly armed himself with a broken broom handle when he confronted a group of four juveniles, two of whom were Ives’ younger brothers.
Jaramillo stated that he spotted four juveniles, about 12 years old, allegedly tampering with parked cars in the area of Maple Street and Ridgeley Place in Weehawken. He apparently had words with the youngsters, who then ran off to a Park Avenue Chinese food restaurant to get help in the form of the older Jose Luis Ives Jr.
Ives went to talk to Jaramillo to ask what was going on, but a confrontation ensued.
All along, Gallantucci has claimed that the officer was defending himself.
“The fact that the young man had multiple skull fractures doesn’t change my opinion,” Gallantucci said in 2003. “To say that it supports more than one blow occurring doesn’t require much logic. But a bone can be broken in more than one place after one injury. We’re looking forward to telling our side in court, and we’re very hopeful that we will be vindicated. Alejandro just needs a level playing field. He was attacked and was defending himself.”
If Jaramillo is convicted, he would not stand to face a stiffer sentence than seven to 15 years.
Both families have moved
Three years ago, Gallantucci said there were two victims in this incident.
“Alejandro is very upset about this,” Gallantucci said. “He’s very upset that a young man lost his life. He’s also upset that some people have lied and other stories have been exaggerated and the circumstances he finds himself in right now. I think it’s tragic, not just for the young boy and the family of the young boy, but it’s a tragedy for Alejandro and for law enforcement in general. Much of this has been taken to a higher scrutiny because he’s a police officer. But a police officer is just like anyone else and Alejandro was attacked and defending himself.”
Since the incident took place nearly three years ago, Jose Luis Ives Sr. has moved his wife and three children to another location, away from the site of the fatal accident, which later became a shrine to the fallen teen and a location for many protests over the last few years.
The Ives family has relocated to another undisclosed spot in Union City, according to family attorney Anthony Mack of Newark.
“They moved a while ago,” Mack said.
But a poster remains on the home where they used to live, as a vivid reminder of that fateful night.
“I think the family is very relieved that the trial has started,” Mack said. “It has been a long time coming. I know that they have wanted to see justice take place for a long time. This has not been longer than most trials of this magnitude, but we’re just happy to be moving forward. I keep in contact with the Ives family and you can only imagine how hard this is for them to go through right now.”
Mack said that he was impressed how quickly the jury selection took place and that the trial started.
“I would guess we would have a verdict by the end of next week,” he said.
Mack is awaiting the results of the criminal trial before exploring any civil action with the Ives family.
Last incident
The last police officer to stand trial on criminal murder charges in Hudson County was former Jersey City police officer John Chisuolo, who was arrested on charges he beat Julio Tarquino to death with a club while off-duty at a Jersey City gas station in 1995.
While a jury couldn’t reach a verdict on the murder charges, Chisuolo was convicted in 1998 for aggravated assault in the case, as well as unlawful use of a weapon and official misconduct, and served four years of a nine-year jail sentence before being paroled in 2003.