JERSEY CITY — A week ago Tuesday, the fourth and fifth homicides in Jersey City this year occurred after two cousins were killed and found in front of a building on Woodlawn Avenue.
Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said when police arrived they found Malique Richardson, 17, and Lester Thompson, 26, dead and lying face down on the ground. Both men, who were cousins, lived in a home on Van Nostrand Avenue.
DFazio said the young men were both shot numerous times. DeFazio said Thompson was killed by a shot to the head, and Richardson died from a shot to the face. Money was taken from both men.
Over the past weekend, two other young men were arrested for the crime.
Ronald “Diddy” Lawrence, and Hakeem “Hak” Lester, 21, were each charged with two counts of felony murder, armed robbery, and weapons possession, Assistant Prosecutor Guy Gregory confirmed Monday.
Gregory confirmed that the cousins were apparently “set up” and lured to the scene, where they were robbed.
Lester was arrested by members of the Jersey City Police Department and County Prosecutor’s Office at 4 p.m. on Saturday when he was spotted in the city. Lawrence turned himself in the next morning.
The Prosecutor’s Office praised the work of the investigators and police who determined whom the suspects were.