14-year-old accused of fatally shooting Newark cop expected to be tried as adult

Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News on Apr 4, 2025

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A 14-year-old accused of gunning down a pair of New Jersey police officers, killing one of them, is expected to be tried as an adult in the shooting.

The unidentified teen is facing counts including murder, attempted murder and possession of illegal weapons in connection with the gun battle in Newark last month, culminating in the shooting death of 26-year-old Detective Joseph Azcona.

Under state law, juveniles below the age of 15 can’t be tried as adults — so New Jersey’s interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba is working to have the charges transferred to federal court.

“This is really the way it should be,” she said during an appearance on “Fox and Friends” Thursday. “If you shoot a police officer, if you shoot anyone, I don’t care what your age is. If you’re part of a gang and you have a repeated history of crime, you will be tried as an adult.”

The shooting unfolded the night of March 7 at Carteret St. and Broadway, near a McDonald’s and a White Castle not far from the Passaic River.

Police said the gunman fired off more than two dozen shots as officers closed in, fatally striking Azcona, a five-year-veteran of the Newark Police Department.

He’d been responding to the area as part of an intelligence team seeking suspects in an illegal weapons investigation, police said, adding that he didn’t even have a chance to step out of his vehicle before he was fatally struck.

Azcona’s partner was also wounded in the shooting, as was the teen, whose name has not been released because of his age. He remains in the hospital, according to Habba.

“He was going to go under the state which meant that he would have had a very low sentence if he was found guilty, which I’m sure he would be, ” Habba said.