“Quatro anos,” Eulogio Mayren repeated several times, standing in front of a memorial to his son.
The Egg Harbor Township father tried to grasp that each of the men accused of beating his son outside the now-shuttered Centerfolds strip club in Pleasantville faces four years under a plea agreement.
Irving Mayren-Guzman, 19, went missing Jan. 23, after he was kicked out of the club that let him in with identification that allegedly showed he was underage.
Surveillance video showed three men assaulting the teen outside. He then got up and ran away.
But the teen’s family and friends believe that, if there had been no assault that night, Mayren-Guzman would still be alive.
Jamaul Timberlake pleaded guilty this week, under a deal that would give him four years in prison with no mandatory minimum. It is contingent on his two co-defendants — brothers John and Garnell Hands — taking the same deal. They are due in court Jan. 25, the anniversary of when Mayren-Guzman was found.
The family questioned how that deal came to pass. They insist that, until recently, the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office has included them in the process. They also believe that, under the Crime Victim Bill of Rights they should have been able to a statement regarding the case.
“The family has essentially been slapped in the face regarding the backdoor plea deals that Prosecutor (William) Reynolds and his office have undertaken without any input from the family, said Irvin Moreno-Rodriguez of El Pueblo Unido of Atlantic City.
“They have not consulted with the family,” he said. “They have talked to the family. They have talked down to the family.”
He said now that they will be speaking with the attorney general about the issue.
They also want to know if the prosecutor either doesn’t believe there is enough evidence to go to trial or is just trying to get the case off his logs.
“All we’re asking for is for the prosecutor to be completely transparent,” he said.
“The victim’s mother was notified of the plea deal via phone conference and noted her objection,” First Assistant Prosecutor Erik Bergman told BreakingAC. “Her lawyers were on the call and they were told as well. This was done last week.”
Meanwhile, the attorney for one of the brothers has said he wasn’t aware that Timberlake pleaded until a reporter asked him about it.
Matthew Portella did not indicate whether John Hands would take a deal.
Portella was aware that his defendant’s offer is four years in prison with the condition that all must resolve, Bergman said.
“He did not know that Timberlake had accepted his offer, which was the same,” he added.
All three men remain in the Atlantic County Justice Facility.
The family and their supporters will be at the courthouse protesting during every court hearing, they said.
