Newark man gets 375 years in slayings of woman, 2 children over Facebook post

Jeremy Arrington has been sentenced to 375 years in jail for the 2016 Newark slayings of three people, including two children, in which authorities said stemmed from his anger over a Facebook post.

Jeremy Arrington sentenced

31-year-old Arrington was convicted last month of three counts of murder and attempted murder as well as burglary, criminal restraint and weapons charges.

Judge Ronald Wigler imposed three consecutive life terms for the brutal slayings as well as consecutive sentences on other counts, telling the defendant that he had committed “perhaps the most horrific, heinous, cruel, and depraved murders this county has ever seen.”

Brutal slayings

Prosecutors said Arrington entered a Newark home in November 2016, tied up people inside and stabbed them with kitchen knives, killing 8-year-old Aerial Little Whitehurst and 11-year-old Al-Jahon Whitehurst, then shot and killed 23-year-old college student Syasia McBurroughs, who was visiting the family.

A 29-year-old woman, a 13-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl were injured.

Prosecutors said a young girl with autism was able to escape and called for help from a closet, allowing police to respond before more lives were lost.

Authorities said Arrington was angry that one of the victims had reposted a Facebook alert from police naming him as a suspect in an earlier shooting and sexual assault.

In addition to the three life terms, the judge handed down consecutive 50-year sentences for each of the three attempted murder convictions, prosecutors said.

During sentencing, Arrington apologized to the defendants and family, saying the act was “craziness and uncalled for” and said he would switch places with the victims if he could, NJ.com reported.