Judge orders life behind bars for killer of engaged Jersey City couple

By Jonathan Lin/The Jersey Journal
January 17, 2014 at 12:07 PM

The 22-year-old Jersey City man found guilty in the shocking 2010 murders of a couple who had just left their engagement party was sentenced to life behind bars today, with the judge saying the man epitomizes the word ?depravity.?

Shiquan Bellamy won?t be eligible for parole for 127 years, meaning he will die in prison along with his cousin, who was sentenced last year to a life behind bars in connection to the killings.

Bellamy uttered no expression of remorse for his role in the killings.

Superior Court Judge Paul DePascale?s courtroom was packed for today?s sentencing, with family members of the victims, Nia Haqq and Michael Muchioki, on hand along with Bellamy?s kin.

The victims? family offered harrowing testimony before pleading with DePascale to hand down a life sentence.

"I have watched my parents cry with no way to help them," Amanda Muchioki, Michael Muchioki's sister, told the judge. "Our family and friends will forever be devastated by their loss."

Hussain Haqq, Nia?s uncle, noted that Bellamy, even in jail, will still be able to see his family.

"The only way I can see my niece is through pictures, pictures, you know?" said Haqq, his voice cracking in sorrow. "I don't get to build more memories of her.?

Bellamy was found guilty on Sept. 19 of the April 2010 murders of Haqq and Muchioki, which occurred during a failed carjacking outside the couple?s Randolph Avenue apartment.

His cousin, Latonia Bellamy, was convicted of felony murder for her role in the killings, while an accomplice, Darmelia Lawrence, pleaded guilty to robbery and testified against the two Bellamys. Lawrence won't be sentenced until she testifies against Shiquan Bellamy in the three other murder trials he faces.

Shiquan Bellamy was seen as the ringleader of the three. Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Michael D'Andrea today called him a ?vile creature? who diminishes society.

"It does not seem right or fair or just that he gets to walk the face of the earth, that he gets to feel the sun on his face ... while Mike and Nia lie moldering in the ground,? D'Andrea said.

Bellamy had his moment to address the court, but instead he turned to face his family, resulting in a reprimand from the judge.

?Not the crowd, to me,? DePascale said.

The cold-blooded killer faced the judge but continued addressing his family.

?I need you all to stay focused for me. I love you all,? he said.

DePascale then handed down the sentence, saying Bellamy killed Haqq and Muchioki to ?satisfy a sick desire to see what it?s like to shoot someone.?

While Bellamy was led out of the courtroom, his mother shouted out, "I love you, Sha" and "I'm there, every day."

As Bellamy passed her, he said, ?I know.?

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2014/01/bellamy_sentencing.html

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... as_verd.html#incart_river
The 22-year-old Jersey City man accused of murdering a Jersey City couple as they returned home from their engagement party three years ago erupted in anger this afternoon when he was found guilty on all 17 counts against him.

As the jury foreperson read "Guilty'' over and over, Bellamy shook his head. Then, when the verdicts were all read, he punched the defense table several times and shouted, "F---, man.''

State Superior Court Judge Paul DePascale told Bellamy to calm down or be escorted out, and five Hudson County Sheriff's Officers then took him away.

Bellamy was accused along with two women in the April 2010 murders of Nia Haqq and Michael Muchioki during a failed carjacking outside of the couple's apartment on Randolph Avenue.

He is also accused of three other murders:

* The Feb. 2, 2010, felony murders of cousins Mileak Richardson and Lester "Bleek" Thompson. Police said at the time that Richardson and Thompson were robbed of cash, a cell phone and drugs, and were "set up."

* The March 27, 2010, murder of Lamonte Wright, 20, who was shot in the back with a shotgun on Clerk Street near Myrtle Avenue as he walked his girlfriend to her car. Authorities called the killing a "premeditated attack," and said robbery was not involved.

"This is beyond humanity that one young man can be charged with causing this much destruction of human life," then-Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said at the time.


According to officials and witness Darmelia Lawrence -- who pleaded guilty in August 2012 to two armed robbery charges in the Muchioki and Haqq murders -- it was around 2:30 a.m. on Easter Sunday, April 4, 2010, when Muchioki and Haqq parked their Honda CRV in front of their apartment on Randolph Avenue and were approached by Lawrence, Bellamy and Bellamy's cousin Latonia.

Shiquan Bellamy then forced Haqq and Muchioki to the ground and shot Muchioki in the back of the head with a 12-gauge shotgun, and Latonia shot Haqq twice and Muchioki once with a 9mm handgun.


In a separate trial last year, Latonia Bellamy was found guilty of murder and other charges. She is serving a life sentence.

Shqiuan Bellamy also faces life in prison when he is sentenced.

This was Shiquan Bellamy's second trial in the case. In March, a mistrial was declared after jurors said they were deadlocked.

This story still makes me cry

Admitted accomplice in murder of Jersey City couple tells court defendant was the shooter

By Anthony J. Machcinski/The Jersey Journal
September 12, 2013 at 2:27 PM

After three days of testimony from people who heard the shootings and police officials investigating the crime, Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Michael D'Andrea called one of the few people believed to have actually seen the murders of a Jersey City couple.

Darmelia Lawrence, who pleaded guilty in August 2012 to two armed robbery charges in the case as part of a plea deal, told the jury today that Shiquan Bellamy pulled the trigger, killing Michael Muchioki after Muchioki's fiancee handed over keys to the alleged carjacker.

"The lady gave him the keys, then he ordered both of them on the ground," Lawrence testified. "Then he shot the man first with the gun. ... I heard the lady scream. ... Then I heard three more shots."

According to Lawrence and officials, around 2:30 a.m. on April 4, 2010, Muchioki and his fianc?e, Nia Haqq, were coming home from their engagement party when they parked their Honda CRV in front of their apartment on Randolph Avenue and were approached by Lawrence, Bellamy and Bellamy's cousin Latonia. who was found guilty of murder and other charges last year and is serving a life sentence.

Shiquan Bellamy then forced Haqq and Muchioki to the ground, officials said. Lawrence then shot Muchioki in the back of the head with a 12-gauge shotgun, officials said, and Latonia shot Haqq twice and Muchioki once with a 9mm handgun.

For the first time in the trial, Shiquan Bellamy, seated just feet away from his alleged accomplice, showed signs of emotion, shaking his head repeatedly during Lawrence's testimony.

When asked why she didn't call the police following the incident, Lawrence said, "I was scared."

"I tried to (call the police) but (Shiquan) caught me," Lawrence continued. "I was scared. He told me if anything happened, he would be out to get my mother and my children."

In addition to identifying Bellamy as the shooter, Lawrence also testified that the shotgun, a Smith and Wesson Model 1000, and a camouflage jacket, both displayed to the jury yesterday, belonged to Bellamy.

According to officials, the oversized jacket contains blood DNA from both Haqq and Muchioki. Additionally, officials say the shotgun had DNA from Muchioki on the inside of the barrel.

This is Shiquan Bellamy's second trial in the case. In March, a mistrial was declared after jurors said they were deadlocked.

Latonia Bellamy was found guilty of murder and other charges last year and is serving a life sentence.

D'Andrea finished his direct examination just after 12:30 p.m. and defense attorney Michael Rubas is expected to cross-examine Lawrence this afternoon in the courtroom of Hudson County Superior Court Judge Paul DePascale.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... dant_was_the_shooter.html

Jersey City woman convicted in murders of engaged couple to be sentenced tomorrow

By Ron Zeitlinger/The Jersey Journal
February 07, 2013 at 3:46 PM

A Jersey City woman convicted in June in the murder of a Jersey City couple slain execution-style in the street as they returned home from their engagement party is to be sentenced tomorrow, authorities said.

Latonia Bellamy, found guilty of felony murder, carjacking and robbery, was the first of three people to be tried for the murders of Nia Haqq, 25, and Michael Muchioki, 27, on April 4, 2010, in front of their Randolph Avenue home.

Darmelia Lawrence and Bellamy?s cousin, Shiquan Bellamy, also 21, were also charged. In August Lawrence pleaded guilty to robbery in connection with the murders.

Latonia Bellamy faces 30 years to life for each felony murder when sentenced tomorrow by Superior Court Judge Paul DePascale. It is expected that prosecutors will ask that the terms be served consecutively.

The jury deliberated less than a full day before finding Bellamy guilty. Shiquan Bellamy is charged with killing five people over a 2-month period.

Authorities say that besides the fatal shootings of Haqq and Muchioki, Shiquan Bellamy killed Lamonte Wright, 20, Mileak Richardson, 17, and Lester Thompson, 26.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... y_woman_convicted_in.html

Friends of Michael Muchioki and Nia Haqq, young Jersey City couple slain execution-style in front of home last April, attend arraignment of three teenagers facing charges that may get them life in prison

Tuesday, April 05, 2011
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Three teens charged with the execution-style killings of Michael Muchioki, 27, and Nia Haqq, 25, as they returned from their engagement party on April 4, 2010 were arraigned yesterday.

Muchioki's parents and dozens of the couple's friends said they attended the hearing inside a Hudson County courtroom to represent the deceased.

"It's three young people and to be involved in such a thing, it's such a waste," said Erastus Muchioki, who attended with his wife Sandra Muchioki.

Shiquan Bellamy, 19 at the time of the crime, his cousin Latonia Bellamy and Darmelia Lawrence, who were also 19 on April 4 last year, were arraigned on charges including murder, robbery and carjacking related to the deaths of the couple, who were killed in front of their Randolph Avenue home.

Both victims were shot in the back of the head, one with a pistol, the other with a shotgun, officials said.

Attorneys representing the defendants entered not guilty pleas at the hearing before Superior Court Judge Paul DePascale.

Besides Muchioki and Haqq, Shiquan Bellamy is charged with murdering three other people last year. On Jan. 3, he was arraigned in the March 27, 2010 murder of Lamonte Wright, 20, of Woodlawn Avenue in Jersey City, who was shot in the back with a shotgun while walking his girlfriend to her car on Clerk Street near Myrtle Avenue at about 6 a.m..

Shiquan Bellamy had also already been arraigned in the Feb. 2, 2010 murders of Lester Thompson, 26, and Mileak Richardson, 17, both of Van Nostrand Avenue in Jersey City, who were shot in the head at about 4 a.m. at Woodlawn Avenue and Corcoran Street in Jersey City.

Shiquan Bellamy was on parole at the time of the killings and homicide detectives say they are trying to determine if he played a role in a sixth killing.

Friends of Michael Muchioki and Nia Haqq have formed the Love Mike Nia Foundation in the couple's honor. Over the weekend, it awarded college scholarships to two young people, Sandra Muchioki said. On Sunday, the foundation sponsored a Vigil of Peace in front of the couple's home at 243 Randolph Ave.

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for May 9. The prosecutors have not offered plea deals to the defendants, who face up to life in prison if convicted.

For more information about the Love Mike Nia Foundation, visit www.lovemikenia.org.

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You forgot to include the Animals that raised this lowlife, their just as guilty!

No one treats black people worse than other black people.

Violent behavior is idealized in the ghetto...a person like this should come as no surprise to anyone. He should be drug out into the street and shot in the head like the filthy animal he is- before he has a chance to breed, oh wait he probably already has a few kids.

Evidence in Jersey City double murder is found by cops in Greenville sewer

Thursday, April 15, 2010
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A credit card and cell phone stolen during the murders of a recently engaged Jersey City couple was found during a search of a Greenville sewer yesterday morning, along with credit cards believed to belong to other robbery victims.

"We are of the belief that they were discarded in the sewer by at least one of our defendants already charged," Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said of the phone and card belonging to Michael Muchioki, 27.

Muchioki and his fianc?e, Nia Haqq, 25, were killed execution-style in front of their Randolph Avenue home on Easter Sunday as part of a robbery and botched carjacking, officials say.

The couple had just returned from their engagement party in New Brunswick. Muchioki was shot in the back of the head with a shotgun and Haqq was shot in the back of her head with a pistol. Police believe they have recovered the shotgun used in the crime.

Shiquan Bellamy of Arlington Avenue, Latonia Bellamy, who is believed to be his cousin, and a second woman, Darmelia Lawrence, all 19, were charged Friday with the felony murder of Muchioki and Haqq.

Detectives of the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office's Homicide Squad and Jersey City Public Works Department workers located the items in the sewer at Myrtle and Ocean avenues. The location was searched based on information gathered in interviews during the probe into the murders, the prosecutor said.

Police do not believe that Muchioki's credit card was used after he was killed. The prosecutor also said that the names of three other robbery victims were found on credit cards found in the sewer.

On Tuesday, Shiquan Bellamy was additionally charged with the murder of Lamonte Wright, 20, on March 27, and the felony murders of cousins Mileak Richardson, 17, and Lester Thompson, 26, on Feb. 2.

Richardson and Thompson were killed during a robbery in which a cell phone, money and drugs were taken, officials said.

Wright was shot in the back with a shotgun as he walked his girlfriend to her car and it's not clear what the motive was, officials said, adding that Wright's murder did not include robbery.

Ronald "Diddy" Lawrence and Hakeem Lester were previously charged in the murders of Richardson and Thompson, officials said, adding that Darmelia Lawrence is Ronald Lawrence's sister.

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I get it. So, here in the area, the fact that there are investment bankers living on Park Ave. while at the same time there are poor crack-addicts in the ghettos explains the high crime rate. I can envision the police interrogation:

Police: "Son, why did you shoot-up your hood?"
Accused perp: "Those I-bankers make too much money!"

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I think it has lots to do with the fact that the US has such high income disparity. It also has to do with culture... music, movies and TV shows that are produced in the US are much more violent than other nations. People in this country are fascinated with pop culture, nowadays more than ever. If there is not a strong parent or other adult present in a child's life, that child is more susceptible to be influenced by his/her peers and pop culture. This is especially a problem in urban neighborhoods where parents are either (a) not present or (b) drug addicts or (c) convicts themselves.

SICULO, T-Bird broke out the ranking by OECD for you. When you have countries like Russia, Thailand and Mexico far exceeding the US in murders, it shoot a hole through your diversity theory, so to speak.

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Violent crime in this country has been headed downward for at least a decade. It's still marks our poor and minority communities in lopsided numbers. Our history of segregation and marginalization (in education and financial empowerment) of those communities looks like a far better measure of violence than some notion of diversity. In reality, those violent communities show a clear lack of diversity, in race or class.

Fixing schools and getting people to work are what I see improving the situation. Having a million released felons on the street who can't find a job to support a family doesn't help much.

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The US is a world leader in violent crime in industrialized, developed countries. This is well documented (though still shocking and inexplicable).

What is the answer? Why are we so violent?

Why are Canadian cities so safe (and clean) ???

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Hyperbol, nothing!!, wheres the facts to prove your comments??? name another nation on the same eco-socio as us that has a larger more violent society???

Your not going to be able to.

Its fact, We have more people in prison here in the US than anywhere else, the numbers don't lie!

You can't deal with reality, than you shouldn't partake in this discussion.

Manhattan isn't diverse? Whatever. Staten Island is included in the per capita numbers.

I'm guessing, but the most dangerous neighborhoods won't be marked by diversity, they'll be marked by a disadvantaged minority with failing schools, high unemployment and a young population.

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According to NationMaster.com, a compilation of data from CIA Worldbook, the OECD and the UN, the U.S. ranks 24th in murder, 9th in rape and 6th in assault on a per capita basis. Among OECD countries, only Poland (murder), Canada (rape) and Australia (rape) outdo the U.S. in these categories. Among the countries consistently higher than the U.S., other than South Africa, they tend to be places with entrenched poverty (the stans, carribean, africa) and homogeneous populations - very generally speaking.

You are so correct about education being the answer. This is not just a Jersey City issue, but an issue across the U.S.
What do we do about teenagers that don't want to attend school. I mentioned this in an earlier posts.

We cannot continue to allow these teenagers roam the streets and not attend school towards getting an education.

If they choose not to want to go to school, then they should be given no other choice except to be put in the military, work camps, or controlled environment where they can be given discipline, get some sort of education, perhaps learn a skill and hopefully take pride in oneself.

If you can get to these teenagers starting right out of grade school and get those off the streets that don't want to attend school, but rather commit crime, they must be removed from society, put in controlled environment towards being given some kind of direction and not take to the life of crime hopefully before it's not too late.


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NYC is indeed a unique example. But even using NYC ... where are the highest concentrations of violent crime within NYC?

Manhattan, and parts of Brooklyn are safe. But how racially diverse is Manhattan in 2010?

Don't forget Staten Island ... the safest borough, and far and away the least racially diverse.

But is that factually true?

Take Portland, Oregon and compare it to NYC. We lead in murder, but they have more rape and assault. Portland is overwhelming white. NYC may be one of the most diverse places on earth.

You can find examples of the opposite, but it just goes to show that there really isn't such an easy correlation.

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Well, in this country, the highest concentrations of violent crime occur in areas of high racial diversity.

In non-diverse (yet still poor) areas, crimes such as drug use and maybe theft are high ... but generally not "violent crime".

I don't have a theory or set stance on this - I'm merely thinking out loud.

A few unfortunately, but a good education and broad experience is a good start.

Pet theories about diversity being the harbinger of violence are not.

Actually, I have a friend who considers himself EXTREMELY liberal, who has the exact same theory as Siculo suggested.

Personally, I think education is the answer. How many well-educated racists do you know?

That's really a cop-out answer. There are plenty of places where multiculturalism isn't a factor that have violent crime rates far higher than the US. Saying that we're among the highest is total hyperbole. Could you folks please at least try to back up your statements with facts when you spout this nonsense?

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I hate to say it,but its in the fabric of this nation, being a multi-cultural country, atleast on the east and west coast, makes for a boiling pot, not a melting pot as most politicians would love for all of us to believe.

Yes, violence is worldwide, but nowhere at the rate found here in the US.We have the largest prison population in the entire world.These prisons don't rehabilitate, they fester and breed violence which spills into the streets.

This punk that commited these murders shouldn't have been on the street, the entire system is a complete failure and thanks to the stupid laws on the books, it will continue to be like this!

The US is one of the wealthiest, most educated, and one of the most powerful countries in the world.

Yet our violent crime rates are among the HIGHEST in the world.

What are we missing? What are we doing wrong? How do we fix the crime problems in our cities?? It's truly unsettling.

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So that means only 4 murders so far, which for the year would extrapolate only 12, or 1 per month.

Can't wait to hear Healy spin this as further proof that we sooooo safe in Jersey City.

Just have to wait until he gets home from vacation.

So, how bad is the murder rate in Jersey City. 9 murders thus far. However, 5 of them committed or co-committed by the same piece of garbage. How many more would have this scum killed.

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wow. really? don't get lo-jack because it might anger a criminal enough to shoot you?

the thugs have truly won.

I'm assuming the reason they didn't take the car is was that it had a lo-jack type device. It would be sad if that is the reason they decided to kill them. It's something to think about before having one installed.