Three Charged with Killing Essex County Corrections Officer

Three people were charged with the July 31 death of an Essex County corrections officer after they apparently shot her during an attempted carjacking.

Maurice Holstin, 30, Laquann Reed, 22, and a 16-year-old boy, were charged with felony murder, carjacking, conspiracy and various weapons offenses in , authorities said Friday during an 11 a.m. news conference at the city's communications center. Officials did not identify the shooter. Essex County Chief of Detectives Anthony Ambrose said the three were arrested earlier this week at their homes without incident.

Ambrose said Ferreira, 32, was off duty when she was shot in her car on Halsey Street in downtown around 2:55 a.m. that Sunday. She died shortly after 3 a.m. at University Hospital.

Ambrose said Ferreira had . She likely was at Club Mentors, a Bronze Shields club, which is an African-American police officers' association within the Newark Police Department.

Newark Police Director Samuel DeMaio said a curfew violation spurred the three arrests, but refused to release details, "That stop definitely led the detectives in the right direction to information and evidence that was a part of that arrest."

The Irvington mother of a one-year-old daughter was described Friday by colleagues as a "wonderful" person who put family first.

"She was very outgoing … always stood by her side and very dedicated to her job," said Allan Alvarez, 31, an Essex County Corrections officer and Ferreira's colleague for four years. "We started together and she was a best friend to all of us and a sister. We miss her so much." Alvarez said officers nicknamed Ferreira "Fe."

In addition to Ferreira's death, the three individuals also were charged with other unrelated crimes, including an armed robbery in Bloomfield. Reed and Holstin also were charged with an Aug. 3 assault in Newark and Reed was charged with an Aug. 1 carjacking in Newark. The adults are in Essex County jail in lieu of $1 million bail and the 16-year-old is in a youth detention center.

Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn Murray said her office is deciding if it's "legally appropriate" to try the 16-year-old juvenile as an adult.

Essex County Corrections Department Director Alfaro Ortiz said it's gratifying to his officers that an arrest was made in Ferreira's death, "We're delighted that there's some consolation that someone's been held accountable."

Records show Ferreira had been employed by the Essex County Corrections Department as an officer since July 2007. Anthony Puglisi, a county spokesman, said Ferreira worked at Essex County Correctional Facility on Doremus Avenue in the city.

Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo, whose office runs the prison, called Ferreira's death "tragic," "To think that a young baby is going to grow up without a mother is just so tragic."

Newark Mayor Cory Booker emphasized at Friday's briefing that the arrests are part of a "small group of individuals," he says, are responsible for most of the summer's violence.

So far, more than a dozen people have been killed because of gun violence in Newark this summer. The same weekend Ferreira was shot dead, .

Booker said now that arrests were made in Ferreira's death, he's hopeful police will find Reddick's killers, "I have deep hope that when we mark the end of this summer after Labor Day that we will have even more crime solved and even more people responsible for these heinous events behind bars."