NJ uncle and nephew get prison for hacking Lakewood man in Howell

🔴 2 relatives are sentenced to prison after pleading guilty

🔴 The case involves a brutal killing in Monmouth County in 2019

🔴 The victim was found on a road

An uncle and nephew each get two decades in prison for killing a man with a machete in Howell over three years ago.

In September, 33-year-old Omar Rivera-Rojas and 21-year-old Alberto Rojas-Hernandez, both of Lakewood, pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter in the brutal death of a third Lakewood man.

They admitted taking turns striking 33-year-old Domingo Merino-Rafael with the weapon in the back of the head, after an argument with the victim in October 2019.

Merino-Rafael’s body was found on Hurley Pond Road by Howell Police early the next morning, east of Lakewood-Farmingdale Road (County Route 547).

RENDERING: Howell machete killers sentenced (Google Maps, Canva)

After initially suspecting a hit and run, due to where he was found, police quickly realized it was a homicide due to the “chop wounds” the man had suffered.

Rivera-Rojas and Rojas-Hernandez were sentenced to 22 and 20 years, respectively.

Rojas-Hernandez was 17 at the time of the killing, but was waived to adult court to face prosecution alongside his uncle.

Both men must serve at least 85% of their terms before the possibility of parole.

Erin Vogt is a reporter and anchor for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach her at erin.vogt@townsquaremedia.com

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