In the pale light of a July dawn, the crack of gunfire shattered the stillness of Westminster Avenue, where one man died while another was injured.
Now, eight months later, the wheels of justice have begun to turn—methodically, unflinchingly—as two men stand accused of extinguishing a life and leaving another forever scarred.
Stevens Charles-Pierre, 27, of Linden, and Brunel Thimotee, 20, of Philadelphia, now face the grave weight of first-degree murder charges in the death of Jose Aranzamendi, a 47-year-old Elizabeth father struck down in an eruption of violence last summer.
The charges, announced last week by Union County Prosecutor William A. Daniel, Elizabeth Police Director Earl Graves, and Chief Giacomo Sacca, paint a stark portrait of that fateful morning: officers arriving to find two men bleeding in the street, one clinging to life, the other beyond saving…