MIDDLESEX COUNTY: Local man charged in New Brunswick killing

A Monmouth Junction man is one of three charged with killing a New Brunswick man last week.

By Charles W. Kim, Managing Editor
A Monmouth Junction man is one of three charged with killing a New Brunswick man last week.
   Christian A. Peguero, 25, of Monmouth Junction is being charged with murder and conspiracy to possess a handgun with two other men from New Brunswick in the shooting death of city resident Rahim Fuqua, 30, March 1.
   According to police, Mr. Fuqua was gunned down on the steps of his Seaman Street home on March 1.
   Mr. Peguero, who was wounded in the right leg during the shooting, previously had been charged with two counts of hindering police in their investigation and is being held at the Middlesex County Adult Corrections Center in North Brunswick on $1.5 million bail, according to police.
   Police are seeking the two other men, Steven Perez, 19, and Jonathan Rodrieguez, 21, both of New Brunswick.
   The three were charged with murder and the weapons offense after an investigation by Detective Brandt Gregus of the New Brunswick Police Department and Investigator Jeffrey Temple of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office determined that they were the members of a group that allegedly fired shots at Mr. Fuqua and fled, police said.
   Investigators determined that Mr. Fuqua, who was found on his front steps of his home, was armed with a handgun and was the intended target of the shooting, which was not a random act.
   Police said his weapon had not been fired.
   Following the shooting, Mr. Fuqua was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, were he was pronounced dead two days later.
   Police said Mr. Peguero subsequently was arrested and charged at Raritan Bay Medical Center in Perth Amboy, where he had gone for treatment of a leg wound.
   Also wounded in the shooting was an innocent bystander, identified as a 34-year-old city resident, police said.
   He was treated at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital for a gunshot wound to the left arm and was released.
   Police said the house where Mr. Fuqua resided and was shot has been the scene of prior police investigations.
   Superior Court Judge Bradley J. Ferencz set the bails in New Brunswick for Mr. Perez at $2 million and Mr. Rodriguez at $1 million, police said.
   Police said the investigation is active and is continuing.
   Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Gregus of the New Brunswick Police Department at 732-745-4217, or Investigator Temple of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at 732-745-3373.