New Jersey Man Confessed To Raping And Killing 11-Year-Old Neighbor But It Got Thrown Out

A man sentenced to life in prison for raping and killing an 11-year-old girl in Keansburg, New Jersey can withdraw his guilty plea and ask for a new trial.

Apparently, detectives violated his Miranda rights in obtaining his confession, a state appeals court ruled Monday, as reported by NJ News.

23-year-old Andreas Erazo confessed to fatally stabbing his downstairs neighbor, Abbiegail Smith, and was sentenced two years later after his attempts to have the confession deemed inadmissible were denied.

The appeals court overturned that ruling and determined Erazo’s confession was improperly obtained after hours of questioning at police headquarters.

Abbiegail’s body was found July 13, 2017, wrapped in a comforter and bound with computer wire on a rooftop outside Erazo’s window about 13 hours after her mother reported her missing.

On February 26, 2019, one day before his trial was to begin, Erazo pleaded guilty to first-degree counts of murder and sexual assault in a plea agreement reached with prosecutors who consulted with the girl’s family.

Erazo was sentenced to 63 years to life on the murder charge and 42 to 50 years on the sexual assault count, state prison records show.

SEE ALSO: Man Who Confessed to Killing 11-Year-Old Neighbor in 2017 Was Sentenced to Life

The appellate division of New Jersey’s Superior Court ruled Monday that a detective with the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office failed to read Erazo his Miranda warning during the first part of his questioning at police headquarters with a detective and Keansburg police officer.

The officers had claimed they interviewed Erazo only as a potential witness early on the investigation and did not have to read the 18-year-old his rights because he wasn’t a suspect and was not in custody.

However, the appeals court ruled that police took Erazo from his home in the back of a police car, allowed him only supervised breaks for several hours and questioned him in a small room as if he was a suspect.

“Detectives’ questioning was not ‘simply part of an investigation,’” the judges said in their ruling.

“They targeted defendant as a suspect and performed an inquisition specifically and deeply into his background and activity from the night before (the victim) went missing to the day after,” the judges wrote in their decision.

The judges wrote the interrogation was custodial because, as the hours went by, Erazo was moved deeper into smaller rooms at the station house, told to wait in a room for the detectives, and had to be escorted to bathroom and cigarette breaks.

“There was nothing noncustodial about either interview,” the judges wrote. “No reasonable person would have thought at anytime they were free to leave.”

When the detectives later read Erazo his Miranda warning, they “undermined” the process by misleading Erazo – who had a history of mental health issues, substance abuse and family problems – about the seriousness of the crime, according to the appeals court ruling.

Defense attorneys later argued in court that Erazo was a sex addict who was unable to control his urges, had several mental health issues and suffered from bi-polar disorder and major depression.

After reading him his Miranda warning, detectives told Erazo he was “not being judged … not being looked at” and that it was the investigators’ job to “sit here and help you through this.” They also told him they were recording his statement “for his benefit,” the decision states.

The ruling states the trial court erred in admitting Erazo’s confession and said the detectives exploited several aspects of the situation in order to obtain incriminating statements.

Erazo eventually told detectives that he killed the girl when he found her in his apartment but couldn’t remember if he had sexually assaulted her because he blacked out, according to court documents. A witness told police Erazo was seen accompanying the victim to his apartment.

The appeals court remanded the case back to the trial court, granted Erazo’s motion to suppress his confession and allowed Erazo to withdraw his guilty plea. The case can either be tried again or “otherwise resolved,” the decision states.

The case was argued January 12 before appellate division judges Jack M. Sabatino, Garry S. Rothstadt and Arnold L. Natali Jr. and decided on Monday.

The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office said Tuesday they are planning to appeal the decision to the New Jersey Supreme Court. “We believe this decision fails to align with the requirements of Miranda,” a prosecutor’s office spokesman said in a statement.