Story by Ethan
According to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, Edwin Andujar was convicted of murder for fatally stabbing Thomas Parent, 59, his wheelchair-bound roommate. Belleville police responded to a 911 call from a witness that saw Andujar stand over Patent with a bloody knife. Law enforcement arrived at 26 Wallace Street, 2nd Floor Apartment, and found Parent sitting in his wheelchair with multiple stab wounds in his abdomen, and back, as well as a laceration on his arm. Police thereafter arrested Andujar, and noticed a bloody knife under Parent’s wheelchair. During the arrest, Andujar told officers, “I stabbed him, I couldn’t take it anymore.”
After a multi-week trial held before Superior Court Judge Micheal L. Ravin, at the Essex County Superior Court, on January 25th 2024, a jury found Andujar guilty on counts of murder, Unlawful Possession of a Weapon, and Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose.
Assistant Prosecutor Michele Miller comments, “This defendant brutally stabbed Thomas Parent approximately a dozen times in the stomach and twice in the back as he sat defenseless in his wheelchair… We and the family of the victim are very grateful that the jury came to the same conclusion.”
Assistant Prosecutor Monica Calderon said, “We would like to thank the jury for their hard work and their just verdict. This was not a case of self-defense, but a deliberate attack on a vulnerable victim. We hope this verdict brings Thomas Parent’s family some degree of closure.” Following the conviction, on April 5th, 2024, Andujar was sentenced to life in prison.
