Ex-gang associate testifies at trial

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NEWARK, N.J., Oct. 25 (UPI) -- A New Jersey man testified against his friend in a 2007 triple-slaying schoolyard shooting prosecutors say was gang-related.

Shahid Bakersville said his friend Gerardo Gomez, on trial for murder, was a member of the central American street gang MS-13. Bakersville told jurors Gomez and five other teens shot and killed Terrance Aeriel, 18, and Iofemi Hightower and Dashon Harvey, both 20, behind Mount Vernon High School in Newark, N.J.

Bakersville cut a deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to a lesser charge for his role in the killings. He will serve 30 years in prison in exchange for his testimony against Gomez, The (Newark, N.J.) Star Ledger reported Thursday.

Four other suspects have either pleaded guilty or been convicted in the shootings, the newspaper said.