GUILTY NJ - Zara Malani-Lin Abdur-Raheem, 3 mos, East Orange, 16 Feb 2010

[BeanE]

N.J. Attorney General probes four-hour gap between baby abduction, Amber Alert

February 18, 2010, 9:50PM

Authorities said he went to the grandmother’s home, attacked the woman, Leno Benjamin, then grabbed his daughter and ran to a minivan. Leno Benjamin tried to stop him, but Abdur-Raheem struck her with the vehicle, police said.

snip

Initially, East Orange police believed they were responding to an assault case, and weren’t able to talk to Leno Benjamin until after she was treated at University Hospital in Newark. Only when officers finally spoke to her did they "get information that there could be some harm to the girl by the father," he said.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/02/nj_investigates_amber_alert_fo.html

 

[BeanE]

This news video has a few brief clips of Zara's mom, and some more pictures of beautiful little Zara.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ugFvbXuyGI

God bless Zara and help LE find her. Praying for Zara's mom.

 

[WhyaDuck?]

Search resumes for infant who father says he threw off Driscoll Bridge

By The Associated Press
February 19, 2010, 9:56AM

State Police today resumed a search for a three-month-old whose father told police he threw off a bridge into a New Jersey river Tuesday.

State Police Sgt. Stephen Jones said three boats are being used, including one with side-scan sonar. Divers could be used, too.

Aircraft are also searching along banks of the Raritan River and area roads.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/02/nj_state_police_resume_search.html

 

[WhyaDuck?]

If he did throw her over, I really hope she is found. Otherwise, I can see what happens - his lawyer gets the confession chucked, and the prosecution has to struggle to prove, without a body, what he told everyone he did. Frustrating.

 

[amysmom]

What a precious baby girl.

If the dad really did what he said (why admit to murder if not true?) then he's as evil as they come.

Not sure why mom isn't showing more emotion..This always baffles me when I see it.

Just more proof restraining orders do NOT work!

 

[summer_breeze]

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local&id=7288596

Updated at 12:59 PM today

New Jersey (WABC) -- Family and friends have planned a candlelight vigil Sunday night for 3-month old Zara Malani-lin Abdur.

Police say 21-year-old Shamsid-Din Abdur-Raheem, of Galloway, told them he threw his daughter off the Driscoll Bridge on the Garden State Parkway on Tuesday.

Abdur-Raheem has pleaded not guilty to charges including the attempted murder of the child's maternal grandmother whom police say he assaulted during the alleged abduction. The child's mother had sought a restraining order against him.

The search for Zara was scaled back Friday after sonar units failed to find anything in the water.

More: Contact the WABC-TV New Jersey Bureau
A vigil is planned for Sunday night from 7:00pm to 9:00pm at the Church of Epiphany, located at 105 Main Street in East Orange.

Zara was reported to be wearing a pink and gray Carter's onesie and may have been wrapped in a blue sleeping bag.

If anyone has information regarding the infant or this case, they are urged to report it confidentially by calling the State Police hotline 732-264-4150.

 

[WhyaDuck?]

Search is scaled back for baby thrown in NJ river

NEWARK, N.J. -- State police have scaled back a search for a 3-month-old girl believed to have been thrown off a bridge into a New Jersey river by her father.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/19/AR2010021903302.html

Search cut back for baby allegedly thrown into river

New Jersey state police are scaling back the search for a 3-month-old girl believed to have been thrown off a bridge by her father.

Sgt. Stephen Jones said yesterday that units using side-scanning sonar in the Raritan River were wrapping up and the search would be reassessed at the end of the day.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/pennsylvania/84835672.html

Troopers look for infant, but search scaled back

The State Police will scale back its presence in the Raritan River this weekend as air and boat crews continue to look for the 3-month-old baby whose father said he threw her off a bridge on the Garden State Parkway on Tuesday.

http://www.courierpostonline.com/ar...opers-look-for-infant--but-search-scaled-back

UPDATE: State Police scaling back search for missing baby in river

NEWARK — The State Police will scale back its presence in the Raritan River this weekend as air and boat crews continue to look for the 3-month-old baby whose father said he threw her off a bridge on the Garden State Parkway on Tuesday.

http://www.mycentraljersey.com/arti...scaling-back-search-for-missing-baby-in-river

 

[WhyaDuck?]

What a precious baby girl.

If the dad really did what he said (why admit to murder if not true?) then he's as evil as they come.

Not sure why mom isn't showing more emotion..This always baffles me when I see it.

Just more proof restraining orders do NOT work!

True - the only thing restraining orders do, really, is leave a paper trail. Not much use to prevent tragedy.

 

[BeanE]

Poor poor beautiful baby. I feel horrible for her mother too.

How could anyone do such horrifying things to these beautiful little babies?

And there seems to be a new trend of severely beating or murdering the baby when angry with the significant other. What the heck did the poor defenseless babies do???

It just crushes my heart for them.

 

[BeanE]

N.J. mother holds out hope her missing baby is still alive
February 21, 2010, 8:12AM

Venetta Benjamin is barefoot and dressed in a T-shirt and leggings as she clutches a photograph of 3-monthold Zara.

Sitting on the couch in her mother’s East Orange apartment, she remembers cradling her infant in her arms and says she misses feeding her daughter, washing her and smelling the sweet scent of her soft, curly hair.

snip

The 23-year-old mother and college student believes, instead, that her baby is alive and that Abdur-Raheem, who was often jealous and possessive of his girlfriend, lied to police.

“He will say anything to get to me,” she said yesterday, but added that she also believes, “he knows right from wrong. He wasn’t raised like this.”

So while she waits for word from the police, or another confession from Abdur-Raheem, she continues to hope.

“We haven’t found her yet,” said Benjamin, “I pray to God somebody is taking care of my baby.”

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/02/nj_mother_holds_out_hope_her_m.html

 

[WhyaDuck?]

Heartbreaking. I hope this poor woman gets resolution one way or another, or this will hang over her forever.

 

[BeanE]

Heartbreaking. I hope this poor woman gets resolution one way or another, or this will hang over her forever.

It must be just unimaginable agony.

 

[WhyaDuck?]

Mother of baby thrown from N.J. bridge says East Orange police rebuffed restraining order request

By Alexi Friedman/The Star-Ledger
February 22, 2010, 1:22PM

EAST ORANGE -- A lawyer for Venetta Benjamin, whose 3-month-old infant daughter was allegedly kidnapped and thrown from the Driscoll Bridge on Tuesday by the baby's father, said she attempted to get a restraining order against him the day before but was turned away by the East Orange Police.

In a brief e-mailed statement this afternoon, Mitchell Liebowitz said his client sought a restraining order against the father, Shamsid-Din Abdur-Raheem, on Monday, at 10:30 a.m.

“It was Presidents’ Day, and the Family Court was closed,” Liebowitz wrote. “Tragically, the East Orange Police Department turned her away -- without contacting the on-call judge -- telling her she should go to the Family Court in Newark the next day.”

More at:
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/02/lawyer_for_mother_of_missing_b.html

 

[WhyaDuck?]

Missing Alert for Missing Baby Triggers Change
Police Failed to Issue Amber Alert for 4 Hours

Fueled by controversy over a kidnapping that continued for hours with no Amber Alert, New Jersey's attorney general wants more alerts more quickly.

The move comes after state troopers hesitated February 17th to issue an Amber Alert because callers to 9-1-1 said Zara Malani-Lin Abdur-Raheem's father was the abductor.

Under the alert's guidelines, domestic disputes are excluded from the program because of the possibility that one spouse could try to embarrass the other by creating a hoax situation. Police say that several witnesses saw Shamsid-Din Abdur-Raheem take the 3 month-old from her grandmother. Plus Zara's father had no custodial rights and had never been married to the child's mother.

"The system needs tweaking and that's happening," said Paul Loriquet, chief spokesman for acting NJ Attorney General Paula Dow. He said dispatchers will be trained to ask "a series of questions" that can determine whether there's "an imminent threat of violence."

more at:
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local-beat/Missing-Alert-for-Missing-Girl-Sparks-Change-84990567.html

 

[CarolinaMoon]

Bump

I am still hoping that this precious little one is found safe and sound. I don't want to believe the father that he threw her off the bridge.

 

[Texas Mist]

Murder charge in missing NJ baby case
Updated at 01:55 PM today

NEWARK, N.J. - February 24, 2010 -- Authorities have charged a New Jersey man who told police he threw his 3-month-old daughter off a bridge with murder.

...............

Attorney General spokesman Peter Aseltine says Abdur-Raheem has been charged with one count of first-degree murder even though the child's body has not been found.

a little more here

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=7295348

this takes away my hope that baby Zara will be found alive


ETA:

SAYREVILLE —The man who allegedly kidnapped his 3-month-old daughter from an East Orange apartment and threw her into the Raritan River was charged with her murder today, authorities said.

Shamsid-Din Abdur-Raheem, 21, allegedly parked his Dodge Caravan on the right shoulder of the southbound lanes on the Driscoll Bridge and pushed or threw his daughter, Zara Malani-Lin Abdur-Raheem, through the front passenger side window and into the icy river on Feb. 16, according to a warrant complaint filed today in Middlesex County Superior Court. The first degree murder charge was signed by Judge Frederick De Vesa.

Bail has been set at $2 million on top of the $700,000 from prior charges.

Abdur-Raheem was previously charged with kidnapping and endangering the welfare of a child, and aggravated assault and attempted murder for allegedly attacking the baby's grandmother when he barged into the woman's apartment and taking away the child, authorities said. That complaint was filed in Essex County Superior Court.

a little more here

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/02/man_who_allegedly_threw_infant.html

OMG--he threw her out the window like trash! Poor sweet baby.

 

[BeanE]

Rest in peace, sweet little Zara.

God, I feel so bad for her mother.

 

[BeanE]

Murder charges filed against N.J. father accused of tossing infant daughter into river
04:49 PM

A warrant complaint filed in Middlesex County Superior Court alleges that on Feb. 16, Shamsid-Din Abdur-Raheem, 21, of Galloway Township, parked his Dodge Caravan on the Driscoll Bridge and pushed or threw his daughter, Zara Malani-Lin Abdur-Raheem, through the front passenger side window and into the icy river.

He's being held on $2 million bail in addition the $700,000 bail from the earlier charges.

Dear God. Poor poor sweet baby.

 

[BeanE]

Murder charge for man accused of throwing baby from bridge
FEBRUARY 24, 2010

Officials had yet to schedule the appearance for Shamsiddin Abdur-Raheem, 21, of Galloway Township, who reportedly admitted to throwing the infant from the Garden State Parkway span and into the Raritan River. He was charged Wednesday after state authorities say they corroborated his confession through witnesses and their own investigation.

http://www.mycentraljersey.com/arti...-for-man-accused-of-throwing-baby-from-bridge

 

[BeanE]

Father of Missing NJ Baby Charged With Murder
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: February 24, 2010

Abdur-Raheem allegedly abducted the child from her grandmother's home, striking the woman with his van as she attempted to block his escape, authorities said in a court complaint. Abdur-Raheem headed south, parking his vehicle on the southbound shoulder of the highway before pushing or throwing the baby from the front passenger window and into the river, authorities said.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/02/24/us/AP-US-Missing-Baby-Bridge.html