Co-defendant in fatal jewelry store heist: Accused killer pulled trigger - NJ.com
JERSEY CITY -- A man involved in a 2009 jewelry store heist turned on his partner in crime today in court, testifying that the accused killer pulled the trigger that took the life of the Kearny store owner.
Edmir Sokoli, 29, testified that on the morning of Aug. 18, 2009 he and John DeRosa, 58, both of Bloomfield, entered Rachel Jewelry on Kearny Avenue wearing sunglasses, fake beards and wigs.
"As soon as he walked in (DeRosa) took the gun out and said 'This is a robbery. Don't do anything stupid. I know you have insurance."
Inside the store they found Xavier Egoavil, 47, of Kearny, and his mother. Sokoli said Egoavil "just backed up and said 'Take whatever' as Sokoli began stuffing jewelry into a garbage bag.
"When I was doing this, I looked to the left and (Egoavil) was coming forward and DeRosa swings his right hand to make him back up," Sokoli said. "That only made (Egoavil) more aggressive and DeRosa started shooting him."
DeRosa is charged with the murder of Egoavil, while Sokoli and a third defendant, getaway driver Elvis Feratovic, 30, of Bloomfield, have pleaded guilty to lesser crimes. DeRosa is faces 30 years to life in prison if convicted of murder.
The plan was to leave through the rear door, but Sokoli said the gunfire startled him and he ran out the front door and "ran as fast as I could," around the corner where he jumped into Feratovic's waiting BMW.
"Once I got in Elvis' car I said 'He shot the man. He shot the man,' and Elvis' was like 'I told you this was a bad idea. We shouldn't have did it,'" Sokoli testified.
He said DeRosa was out of breath when he got into the car moments later and said "'I had to shoot him.'"
"I turned around and grabbed the gun from (DeRosa) because he just shot this guy and me and Elvis are the only ones that can recognize him," Sokoli said "I hand him the bag of jewelry and I grabbed the gun from him and we just left."
As Feratovic testified last week, Sokoli said they dropped DeRosa off at his nearby SVU. He said he and Feratovic fled in the BMW, throwing the gun in a sewer a few blocks away. DeRosa fled in the SUV.
Investigators got a break in the case when Kearny police received a tip that that Feratovic's car was being worked on at a Passaic County auto repair shop to alter its appearance. That led to the three arrest, officials said.
Feratovic and Sokoli were charged with felony murder but both pleaded guilty to robbery and agreed to testify against DeRosa. Each faces up to 20 years in prison when sentenced. Both have been in jail since not long after the fatal shooting.
During cross examination, DeRosa's attorney, Scott Finkenauer, worked to shake Sokoli's credibility by his testimony was motivated by a desire to escape a longer sentence.
"What sentence do you hope to get when you are sentenced?" Finkenauer asked.
"That's up to the judge," Sokoli replied.
"I'm saying what sentence do you hope to get" the lawyer pressed.
Sokoli replied, "Whatever is best for me."
