Man strangled 1, fatally shot 2 others in ‘killing spree,’ prosecutor tells jury

Over the course of one weekend in January 2016, East Orange resident Jeffrey Holland claimed the lives of two ex-girlfriends and the new boyfriend of one of the women during a “killing spree” through Newark, a prosecutor told jurors Wednesday.

“Less than 24 hours,” Essex County Assistant Prosecutor Justin Edwab told the jury, assembled in a sixth-floor courtroom at the Veterans Courthouse in Newark. “That’s all it took for the defendant, Jeffrey Holland, to take the lives of these innocent young individuals.“

Opening arguments in Holland’s triple murder trial began Wednesday morning before Superior Court Judge Ronald D. Wigler, the presiding judge of the court’s criminal division in Newark.

Holland’s proverbial day in court came well over two years after detectives arrested him in the slayings of Tiniquah Rouse, 21, Ashley Jones, 23, and Jarrell Marshall, 28 — all killed between Jan. 29 and Jan. 30 of that year at two apartments in the city.

Rouse was the first to die.

Holland choked and drowned in her in a bathtub, before sexually assaulting her, Edwab said. The first officer at the scene, a Newark police detective, found her 5-month-old child in a closet of the Stratford Place apartment, covered with clothing but unharmed. 

The next day, Edwab said, Holland kicked open the door of Jones’ Clinton Place apartment and confronted her and Marshall in the bedroom with a gun. Marshall was shot numerous times, Edwab said, while Jones — curled up in the fetal position — was shot twice in the head.

The prosecutor’s office at the time said domestic violence appeared to be a factor in the killings, noting Jones had an active restraining order against Holland.

First responders found Jones’ two children and Marshall’s child — all under the age of five — inside the home when they arrived, authorities said at the time. They were physically unharmed.

Man accused of killing his exes has history of arrests for violence

In addition to murder, Holland faces charges that include desecrating human remains and endangering the welfare of children.

While the jury will see surveillance video and photos connecting Holland to the crime scenes, and hear expert testimony that Marshall and Jones were shot with the same gun, there won’t be any DNA evidence or an alleged murder weapon for them to consider, the prosecutor said.

Holland, who has remained jailed at the Essex County Correctional Facility since his arrest, appeared in court Wednesday wearing a white dress shirt and pinstriped gray dress pants. He showed little reaction as the prosecutor spoke to the jury.

Defense attorney Sterling Kinsale, in his own opening remarks, argued the state’s evidence wouldn’t be nearly enough to prove Holland’s guilt on the charges at hand.

“The judge will tell you what murder is and what murder is not in this case,” Kinsale said, referencing the instructions given to jurors before they begin their deliberations.

While the state can provide evidence Holland had prior relationships with the women and visited their homes, he said, there were no eyewitness who could say they saw Holland take someone’s life.

“It’s association by coincidence,” Kinsale said, asking the jurors to keep an open mind.

The jury Wednesday morning heard from both the Newark police detective who responded to Rouse’s home, and a paramedic who examined her and her child.

The trial is scheduled to continue Wednesday afternoon.

Thomas Moriarty may be reached at tmoriarty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ThomasDMoriarty. Find NJ.com on Facebook. 

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