Slain Randolph girl’s mom pushes for death penalty:
The mother of Jennifer Parks, Laurie Parks, is calling on prosecutors to push for the death penalty in the murder of her daughter…
“I feel if you take a life, you give a life,” she said. She said her grief has been overwhelming some days, for herself and Jennifer’s father, David, and that she hopes to start counseling soon. She hasn’t been ready so far for therapy, she said.
“I’m not doing good right now. It’s very hard,” she said.
Can you blame her? Considering, her daughter was killed and dismembered by Jonathan Zarate.
Prosecutors have not yet stated whether or not they will pursue the death penalty. While New Jersey does have the death penalty, it’s rarely used.
We also have news out of the Zarate camp…
Slay case leaves kin wondering:
The relatives of Jonathan Zarate are saying they knew that he had problems. As a matter of fact, he was supposed to have been sent to his aunt in California, who is a psychiatrist. He was supposed to go on August 2nd, but he killed Jennifer Parks on July 30th. Still, no motive was given, but the article uses this as a turning point in Zarate’s life…
He changed from a happy youngster to an angry kid during the breakup of his parents, according to his mother, Flora Mari, who spoke through Fusco. The couple split when he was 8 and divorced when he was 11, according to court records.
Even years later, Zarate spoke about the divorce all the time, according to Moises Mari, a stepbrother who lives in Newport News, Va.
So he was down about his parents’ divorce. Boo-freakin’ hoo. I don’t care if his parents beat him with barbed wire, it’s still no excuse to choke, bludgeon, stab, and dismember a 16-year-old girl.
If this is what the defense will be basing their insanity defense on, then they have their work cut out for them. Then again, this is New Jersey. So we’ll just have to wait and see.
