Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes announces that earlier today the Honorable Marybel Mercado-Ramirez, J.S.C., sentenced Luis Delcarmen, 27, from Passaic, to an overall sentence of one hundred and eighteen years of incarceration for the June 20, 2015, murders in the City of Passaic of Denisse Gonzalez, 22, from Paterson, New Jersey; and Enpaul Cantero, 24, from Garfield, New Jersey; as well as for the attempted murder of a 24 year-old Garfield man.
According to a statement released by The Passaic County Prosecutor, the court sentenced Delcarmen to fifty years of incarceration for the murder of Enpaul Cantero and a consecutive sentence of fifty years of incarceration for the murder of Denisse Gonzalez.
Officials say the Court further sentenced Delcarmen to a consecutive sentence of eighteen years of incarceration for the attempted murder of the surviving victim.
In addition, the Court imposed a concurrent sixteen-year sentence on the charge of robbery and a concurrent ten-year prison sentence with a five-year parole disqualifier on the charge of unlawful possession of a weapon according to the statement.
The other charges on which Delcarmen was convicted in this case were merged for purposes of sentencing. Pursuant to the No Early Release Act, the defendant will have to serve 85% of the 118-year sentence before he is eligible for parole.
Officials say Delcarmen was convicted by a Passaic County jury on January 26, 2018.
According to officials, after five hours of deliberations, the jury returned guilty verdicts on two counts of first degree murder, two counts of first degree felony murder, one count of first degree attempted murder, first degree robbery, second degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and second degree unlawful possession of a weapon.
Officials say the evidence presented to the jury during the trial demonstrated that on June 20, 2015, the victims were on the sidewalk in front of the now-defunct nightclub, Cloud 9 Lounge, which was located at 4 Market Street in Passaic, New Jersey, and that the defendant approached Enpaul Cantero and shot him at close range before pulling a large Cuban-link chain from his neck.
The evidence further demonstrated that the defendant next shot the surviving victim, causing him a life-threatening injury before the bullet exited his body and struck Denisse Gonzalez in the heart, killing her, as she was standing behind him on the sidewalk.
The evidence also demonstrates that Delcarmen fired another shot towards a group of Cloud 9 patrons who were present on the sidewalk before he ran away from the scene officials said.
According to officials, at trial and during today’s sentencing proceeding, the State was represented by Senior Assistant Prosecutor Eileen M. Kane, and the defendant was represented by Paul S. Chiaramonte, Esq.