James Zarate, a Randolph man convicted of colluding with his brother to kill and dismember a 16-year-old girl, was resentenced on Monday to 50 years in prison, two and a half years after a landmark decision by the New Jersey Supreme Court that gave juvenile defenders serving lengthy prison sentences hope they could be released sooner.
"I now only comprehend fully the gravity of my crime and I am weighed down by the shame of having participated in it," said Zarate, 33, reading from a written letter in state Superior Court in Morristown on Monday. "I'm deeply and truly sorry for what I have done."
It was the first time since the horrific death of Jennifer Parks in 2005 that Zarate, who was 14 at the time, stood before a judge and expressed regret for his actions, admitting he played a greater role in the girl's death then he previously would ever admit. But the newfound reparations by Zarate, who was initially convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison in 2009 before he was resentenced to 50 years in 2017, fell flat for a judge.
Judge Thomas Critchley believed that while Zarate may have made progress in admitting a larger role in the slaying, and appeared to have more insight and remorse then he may have ever had, the brutality of the crime coupled with Zarate's problematic behavior in prison over the past 20 years weighed heavily on the judge's mind.
Critchley's resentence aligned with Zarate's third and prior sentencing, which will leave him eligible for parole release when he is 57 years old. It was a sentence that Critchley said would give Zarate some prospect of life outside of the prison system. Zarate was initially facing life in prison following a jury conviction, and at a second sentencing was handed a life sentence but with the opportunity for parole release at the age of 78.
Critchley didn't find Zarate entirely incorrigible — Zarate did get his GED and take paralegal courses in prison — but cited a 2021 incident in the New Jersey State Prison in Trenton where Zarate allegedly used a toothbrush with a razor wired to the top to injure another prisoner. The charges against him are pending indictment. There have also been 22 guilty disciplinary findings against him, and he has been previously recognized as a member of the Latin Kings, prosecutors said. His attorney, Elizabeth Cervenak, said on Monday her client has since renounced his membership from the gang.
What hallmark features did the judge have to consider?
Zarate was with his 18-year-old brother, Jonathan, when they killed Jennifer Parks in their father's Randolph home and cut off her legs before putting her dismembered corpse in a trunk. The pair and another teen were caught by police on July 31, 2005, trying to dump the trunk into the Passaic River. Jonathan Zarate is currently serving a life sentence.
Zarate was initially coy on his involvement in the girl's heinous death, although prosecutors argued he and his brother worked in concert, beating the girl, choking her and using multiple weapons to inflict injuries on her, both while she was standing and on the ground. Court documents read by Critchley on Monday noted that Parks' heart was still beating when the brothers dismembered her body, and that a fatal blow to her stomach caused her to lose consciousness and choke on blood and vomit.
Zarate for the first time admitted on Monday in open court that during the incident, he went downstairs after hearing "strange sounds that were not normal" and found Parks either "dead or dying." He said he saw his brother laying on Parks to "finish her" and admitted he helped his brother because he would do anything to help his brother get away with Parks' death.
The judge during Monday's lengthy hearing had to consider aggravating and mitigating factors as well as factors laid out in Miller v. Alabama, such as the defendant's potential for rehabilitation, his home environment and circumstances of the offense.
Zarate's attorney argued for a 30-year sentence, contending Assistant Prosecutor Tara Wang's argument for 50 years.
Cervenak argued that Zarate was "viewed through the prism of an adult" in 2005 because that was what was allowed under legal juris prudence at the time. She contended that Zarate had idolized his brother and was a "developmentally immature child" who did not have the capability to act as an adult at the time of the murder. She also noted a recent psychological report where Zarate spoke about the chaos and instability he had as a child dealing with parents who fought and were divorced — statements that Wang countered had never been argued prior to now. Cervenak also argued that Zarate, as a result of his dysfunctional home life, had trouble trusting authority and struggled to effectively negotiate with prior attorneys.
Wang, however, painted a picture of a brutal slaying at the hands of two brothers that took time and involved repeated actions to ensure Parks had died. Their actions, she said, were "self-centered and narcissistic." Prior to Zarate's statement on Monday, Wang said Zarate had never showed remorse and had never taken responsibility for his actions. Zarate, she said referring to court documents, had not shown signs of prior psychosis and had described a content home life, growing up in a middle class family with "nice" and hardworking parents. The recent report proffered by the defense of a dysfunctional home life did not support any prior findings in evidence, she added.
A family relives that fateful day
Jennifer Parks' mother, Laurie Parks, recalled the "roller coaster ride" of having to relive the day her daughter died, the kind daughter that she was and the moments in life she has missed since her death 19 years ago.
Jennifer Parks didn't have many friends, but for those she was close, she kept them for life, Parks said on Monday. Later, Parks said she found her daughter had impacted more lives than she imagined, such as giving fellow students a book to read or her last dollar so they could eat at lunch. Her daughter would often tell her that James Zarate bullied her, but Laurie Parks said it was still unclear why.
She sought the maximum penalty, stating that she wanted her daughter to "finally rest in peace."
Zarate, in statements he made in court on Monday, said he was unable to comprehend the actions that he made and the "ripple effects" that it created in the lives of so many.
"I will dedicate the rest of my life into becoming a better man and in creating new ripples into the word of love and kindness," he added.
He smiled as he entered the courtroom on Monday, waiving at the nearly dozen family members present, including his mother, father, stepfather and aunt. His mother appeared distressed, often closing her eyes as she sat in the front row. In an adjacent row, Laurie Parks listened and dabbed tears with tissues during the hearing with the support of several family members.
Critchley in his colloquy said he was distressed he still had an "incomplete" story as to why the brothers killed Parks, but believed both brothers had played a large role, and not just one of them, in Parks' death. He offered Zarate an opportunity to respond to several questions that he said would help him gain more insight or even show some remorse, but his attorney declined to allow him to comment.
Email: lcomstock@njherald.com; Twitter: @LoriComstockNJH or on Facebook.
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