Jury convicts Trenton man in PS4 slaying
TRENTON » A jury rejected Akmal Alvaranga’s duress defense Thursday, convicting him of all charges in the execution-style murder of Danny Diaz-Delgado.
The trial featured weeks of gruesome photos and details about the 2018 abduction and slaying.
Alvaranga, 34, of Trenton, faces life in prison for the murder, plus another 15 to 30 years on the kidnapping conviction, when he’s sentenced Sept. 1 by Superior Court Judge Darlene Pereksta.
He was also found guilty of felony murder, robbery and two weapons offenses for the brutal March 23, 2018, slaying of Diaz-Delgado, who arranged a meetup with Alvaranga’s co-defendant, Rufus Thompson, to purchase a PlayStation 4 for as a gift for his younger brother.
In reality, the meeting was a ruse so the two men could rob the 20-year-old man, who was bound with an electrical cord and duct tape during the torturous hourslong ordeal.
The men eventually loaded Diaz-Delgado into a trunk and drove him to the banks of the Assunpink Creek, where he was shot nine times in the back while on his knees.
Alvaranga took the stand and claimed that his co-defendant was the
sole shooter and that he was forced, on Thompson’s orders, to hold Diaz-Delgado hostage inside a South Cook Avenue garage while Thompson took the victim’s bank card and raided hundreds of dollars from his account.
In all, the men made off with just $940 as part of the fake PS4 scheme.
Defense attorney Edward Hesketh said during closing arguments this week that Thompson was a “coldblooded” killer and a “psychopath” already serving a 45-year bid for the murder, and that he took advantage of his client’s intellectual disabilities to put him in fear for his life.
But Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Rachel Cook countered the duress defense by pointing to a series of phone calls and text messages before, during and after the fatal crime spree that showed Alvaranga wasn’t a scared dupe but Thompson’s “partner in crime.”
She argued that he had a chance to save Diaz-Delgado from impending doom when Thompson went to the ATM, but “he chose again and again to perpetuate these crimes.”
In a statement following the jury’s verdict, Cook called the evidence against Alvaranga “overwhelming” and thanked jurors for the “swift and just verdict.”
“By all accounts, Danny was a remarkable person who was a great friend, loving brother, and devoted son,” she said. “Tragically, Danny’s young life was cut short after crossing paths with the defendant. While we can never get Danny back, it is our hope that his loved ones can find some comfort in today’s guilty verdict.”