Newark woman gets 20 years in prison for fatally shooting neighbor

By Victoria St. Martin - The Star-Ledger

December 15, 2010

"I’m not a cold-blooded killer. Honestly, it was a mistake."

Nicole Guyette, 21, pleaded for forgiveness at her sentencing Tuesday morning, telling Superior Court Judge Torkwase Sekou that she didn’t even know the name of the former classmate she fatally wounded on graduation night in 2008.

Minutes later, Guyette was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the shooting death of 18-year-old Sujeiti Ocasio, who was shot just steps away from her Lincoln Avenue home, where she had been celebrating her graduation from Barringer High School. Ocasio died on June 27, 2008.

Guyette, who was convicted by an Essex County jury of aggravated manslaughter in October, will have to serve 17 years of her sentence before she is eligible for parole.

The night of the shooting, Guyette, who was 18 and pregnant at the time, has said she was walking past Ocasio’s home when she heard a group of girls call her a "trick" — a slang term for a promiscuous woman. Guyette, a former student of Barringer High School, confronted the group, but when no one admitted to saying the insult, she went home and got a gun, according to testimony.

Guyette testified that the gun accidentally discharged as she swung it to hit Ocasio, who had challenged her to a fight.

Judge Sekou, who questioned whether the actions of Ocasio’s friends were appropriate the night of the shooting, said when weighing the sentence for Guyette she could not ignore the seriousness of the crime.

"Guns can’t be the answer for absolutely any reason," Sekou said, adding that the true victim of the shooting is Ocasio’s mother, Maritza Velazquez, because she lost her daughter.

"The state wants the top and the defense wants the bottom," she said of the sentence. "And no matter where we go, Sujeiti will not be (here)."

Moments before sentencing, Ocasio’s uncle, Angel Velazquez, paused in the middle of his statement to turn and look at Guyette’s family, who are also his neighbors. "It ends here," he said.

Guyette, who was also convicted of simple assault and two weapons offenses, will serve a six-month sentence for the simple assault and seven years for one weapon charge that will run concurrent to her 20-year sentence.

Guyette’s attorney, Gerald Saluti, said his client has no prior criminal history and turned her life around in jail by attending anger management classes. He plans to appeal the sentence.

Assistant Prosecutor William Neafsey said the sentence sends a message about the illegal use of guns. "You may have a clean record," he said, "but if you use a gun to commit an offense, you will go away for a long time."

Newark woman is sentenced to 20 years in prison for fatal shooting of classmate

By Victoria St. Martin - The Star-Ledger

December 14, 2010

A Superior Court judge sentenced 21-year-old Newark woman to 20 years in prison for the 2008 shooting death of a former high school classmate on graduation night.

Nicole Guyette, 21, who was convicted by an Essex County jury of aggravated manslaughter in October, will have to serve 17 years of her sentence before she is eligible for parole.

Authorities said Guyette shot her former classmate and neighbor, Sujeiti Ocasio, 18, steps from her home on Lincoln Avenue, where she had been celebrating her graduation from Barringer High School earlier that day. Ocasio died on June 27, 2008.

Guyette, who surrendered days later, testified during trial that the two began arguing after she heard a group of girls with Ocasio call her a “trick,” a slang term for a promiscuous woman. Guyette, who was 18 and pregnant at the time, confronted the group but when no one admitted to saying the insult, she went home and got a gun, according to testimony.

Guyette testified that the gun accidentally discharged as she swung it to hit Ocasio, who had challenged her to a fight.

Judge Torkwase Y. Sekou said that when weighing the sentence for Guyette, she could not ignore the seriousness of the crime.

“Guns can’t be the answer for absolutely any reason,” Sekou said.

Newark woman testifies gun fired accidentally during fatal confrontation

By Alexi Friedman - The Star-Ledger

October 6, 2010

Newark - Angered when a few teenage girls insinuated she was a prostitute, Nicole Guyette confronted the group on her Newark street, demanding to know who had said it.

No one answered, so Guyette, then 18, issued a warning: "I said I’ll be back," she recounted during testimony today for her murder trial in Superior Court in Newark.

Minutes later, Guyette retrieved a gun from her home and after a brief confrontation, fatally shot neighbor and former classmate, Sujeiti Ocasio, 18.

Ocasio was celebrating her graduation from Barringer High School that day in June 2008 and was just steps from her home on Lincoln Avenue.

"I saw her fall and I got scared," Guyette, now 20, said today at her murder trial, referring to Ocasio. "I was shocked and surprised. I never would think it would go off," she told her attorney, Gerald Saluti. "I didn’t touch the trigger."

The bullet passed through Ocasio’s neck and struck one of her friends in the collarbone, wounding that girl.

Guyette has pleaded not guilty to murder, aggravated assault and weapons charges, claiming the handgun fired unintentionally as she swung it to hit Ocasio.

The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office has called it "a senseless tragedy," an argument over name-calling that went too far.

Wearing a cross around her neck, Guyette sobbed through most of her 40 minutes on the stand as she detailed the events of June 27. She had called her boyfriend for help before the shooting, she said, and retrieved the gun only because she felt threatened and outnumbered. The day before, the boyfriend had handed her the weapon in a black bag.

Guyette, who has no previous arrests and was pregnant at the time, didn’t ask why.

After walking outside with the gun, Guyette noticed "it looked funny. It was broken or something," she said. The gun was cocked.

The trial, which began last week, has included testimony from two witnesses for the prosecution, and a ballistics expert. Guyette was the only person to take the stand for the defense.

Ocasio’s mother, Maritza Velazquez, in court with more than a dozen friends and relatives, shook her head and looked down several times during Guyette’s testimony. Velazquez wore a chain around her neck with a locket containing a picture of her daughter, who was to attend Essex County College.

On cross-examination, Assistant Prosecutor William Neafsey said Guyette knew exactly what she was doing with the gun that night. Referring to Guyette’s statement she had called her boyfriend for help, Neafsey said, "In fact, you did bring help. The gun was your help." And after grabbing the weapon, "You came back out the front porch and you said, ‘Who’s going to call me a trick now?" Neafsey said to Guyette, referring to the name she had been called, slang for prostitute.

"Yes," she replied.

Guyette acknowledged she could have avoided a confrontation by locking her front door and staying inside her home. When she did go out with the gun, and the girls approached, including Ocasio, "You could have walked away? Is that correct?" Neafsey said.

"Yes, sir," she said.

Closing statements are expected for this morning, followed by jury deliberations.

Newark woman charged with slaying neighbor after graduation makes court appearance

By Carly Rothman - The Star-Ledger

February 18, 2009

A very pregnant Nicole Guyette pleaded not guilty to murder today in Newark Superior Court.

The Newark woman, 19, has been charged with murder, aggravated assault, unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, in connection with the death of her 18-year-old neighbor Sujeiti Ocasio last summer, hours after Ocasio graduated from Barringer High School, authorities said.

Guyette, who appeared at her arraignment wearing rosary beads around her neck, is due in early March, according to defense attorney Michael Orozco, who asked Judge Peter Vasquez for a March 25 court date in order to give his client sufficient recovery time after the birth of her child. Orozco later refrained from further comment.

On June 27, 2008, during a graduation party at Ocasio's home, Guyette crossed the street to Ocasio's home and left angry, believing that someone from the party had insulted her, according to Essex County Assistant Prosecutor William Neafsey. Guyette had not been invited to the party, Neafsey said.

Guyette returned home, came back outside with a handgun and shot Ocasio in the neck outside of Ocasio's home on Lincoln Avenue in the North Ward section of Newark, he said.

A friend of Ocasio's, Jasmine Perez, 15, who was standing behind the victim, was struck in the chest by the same bullet, Neafsey said. Perez was treated and released at a nearby hospital.

Guyette had dropped out of Barringer and had several prior disputes with the victim, Neafsey said. Guyette turned herself in to an Irvington clergyman the following evening.

Guyette remains in the Essex County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail. If convicted, she faces a minimum of 30 years in state prison.

Newark woman pleads not guilty to graduation night killing

By Bruno R. Tedeschi - NJ.com

July 2, 2008

Nicole Guyette is arraigned in the Essex County Courthouse today. She is accused of killing 18-year-old Sujeiti Ocasio only hours after her high school graduation.

Family and friends of a Newark teenager shot down on the day she graduated from high school filled two rows of a courtroom today as her accused killer made her first appearance on murder charges.

Wearing T-shirts bearing a photograph of 18-year-old Sujeiti Ocasio, the family members glared at Nicole Guyette, also 18, as she entered a plea of not guilty in Superior Court in Newark.

Judge Donald J. Volkert Jr., in what he admitted was an unsual move at a first appearance, made a statement from the bench that expressed his dismay over the senseless killing.
 

"I find the circumstances of this particular case to be the saddest I have dealt with in my time on the bench," Volkert said. "I find it to be profoundly sad."

Guyette, who turned herself in to an Irvington clergyman Saturday night, is charged with murder, aggravated assault and weapons charges. Looking thin and younger than her 18 years in a green jail suit, she appeared dazed in her court appearance but answered Volkert's questions in a full voice that betrayed no emotion.

Volkert continued her bail at $500,000. She is represented by a private attorney, Randy Davenport.

Guyette is accused of shooting Ocasio once in the neck during a dispute last Friday at 12:15 a.m. outside the victim's home at 196 Lincoln Ave. in Newark's North Ward. A friend of Ocasio's, Jasmine Perez, 15, was injured in the chest by the same bullet.

The shooting occurred just hours after Ocasio graduated from Barringer High School. Guyette, who lived across the street on Lincoln Avene, was a Barringer High dropout who had argued with the victim in the past, according to friends.

William Neafsey, the Essex County assistant prosecutor handling the case, said the investigation had turned up no real motive for the shooting other than a senseless argument that went too far.

"It was an argument over name calling," he said. "It's a tragedy. This is as senseless as it gets."