By: Richard L. Smith
Two Newark residents convicted in the execution-style shooting deaths of two 18-year-olds in the city’s North Ward were sentenced Thursday to lengthy prison terms, bringing a measure of justice more than four years after the young men were killed.
Superior Court Judge Michael Ravin sentenced Tashauna Hairston to 70 years in New Jersey State Prison, while Matthew Colon received a 90-year sentence for his role in the May 19, 2022, murders of Angel Vargas and Saeed Jan, both 18 and from Newark.
The sentences followed a jury’s decision finding Colon and Hairston guilty of two counts each of first-degree murder and two counts of first-degree conspiracy to commit murder. Colon was additionally convicted on weapons charges.
According to information previously released by the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, Hairston drove Colon to the 400 block of Mt. Prospect Avenue in Newark’s North Ward.
Prosecutors proved at trial that Colon got out of the vehicle with two other masked individuals before Vargas and Jan were shot multiple times.
Both teenagers were rushed to University Hospital, where they later died.
Colon fled New Jersey following the killings but was later captured in Tampa, Florida, with assistance from federal law enforcement authorities.
Thursday’s sentencing before Judge Ravin delivered severe punishment for a crime that devastated two Newark families and sent a strong message that those who participate in taking lives in the community can face decades behind bars.
During the emotional sentencing phase, Angel’s mother, Katiria Vargas, addressed the court and spoke about the life her son had been building before his murder.
She described Angel as an intelligent, honest and curious Barringer High School graduate who finished near the top of his class, worked at Amazon and had plans to attend college and pursue a career in real estate.
Vargas told the court that losing her son permanently divided her life into the time before and after May 19, 2022.
“I promised my son he would never be a case number,” Vargas told the court in a powerful portion of her victim impact statement.
She asked Judge Ravin to impose a sentence that reflected not only the brutality of the crime but the lifetime of birthdays, family gatherings and milestones Angel would never experience.
The case was prosecuted by Essex County Assistant Prosecutors Austin Edwards and Mattison Monteleone.
Following the convictions, Edwards said the families of Angel and Saeed had “endured the unthinkable,” while Monteleone said the verdict demonstrated that anyone who participates in a homicide can be held accountable even if they were not the person who pulled the trigger.
Investigators from the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, its Homicide Task Force and the Newark Police Division were credited for their work in bringing the case to a conclusion.