Suspect caught in N.J. cop-killing; prosecutor to seek death penalty

PATERSON, N.J. - Lenew Foxworth stood outside police headquarters yesterday and thought about what he would like to ask the man accused of murdering his cousin, Officer Tyron Franklin.

"I would say to the young man, 'I hope and pray you understand what you did,' " Foxworth said. "You took a life and left a young child without a father."

Foxworth and other relatives of Franklin, a rookie police officer who was off-duty when he was gunned down Jan. 7, while ordering food at a chicken-takeout restaurant, said the arrest yesterday morning of a 23-year-old suspect helped ease the pain somewhat.

He said the Franklin family holds no hatred toward suspect Teddy Charlemagne, who is the same age as the officer he is charged with slaying.

"They just want justice to be done," he said.

Acting on a tip phoned in from the public within the past two days, officers from local, county, state and federal agencies tracked Charlemagne to the apartment of a friend in Irvington, and arrested him at about 8 a.m., Paterson Police Lt. Anthony Traina said.

The suspect, who was unemployed and had no known permanent address, has four felony convictions for drug and weapons offenses, Traina said. He was being held on $2 million bail on charges of murder, armed robbery and illegal weapons possession, and is scheduled to make an initial appearance in state Superior Court tomorrow morning.

The arrest brought relief to the Paterson Police Department, many of whose members worked on their days off during the search and never asked to be paid, Police Chief James Wittig said.

"Our feelings toward him [Franklin] we really can't even express," the chief said. "This was a young kid, 23 years old, who was killed."

"We're very happy today," Traina added. "But we are still very distressed that one of our officers was taken down. That pain will never go away. This can only put a little cherry on top of it that we got this guy."

Despite a moratorium on executions in New Jersey, Passaic County Prosecutor James Avigliano said his office intends to seek the death penalty against Charlemagne.

David Wald, a spokesman for the state Attorney General's Office, said that the death-penalty law remains on the books and that there is nothing preventing a county prosecutor from seeking to use it.

The officer, dressed in plain clothes and unarmed, had taken money from his wallet to pay for his food when a man tried to rob him, authorities said.

Since then, officials released a sketch of a man and a description of a vehicle in which he was riding. A reward of $60,000 was offered, and will be paid to the informant if Charlemagne is convicted of the murder, Traina said.

Franklin, who was engaged and was the father of a 16-month-old son, graduated from the city's police academy in April.

He grew up in Westwood, where his high school principal remembered him as a gregarious athlete who played football and wrestled.

Franklin's father had retired as a captain in the Paterson Fire Department, and wanted his son to follow him, but Franklin chose the police force.

The rookie officer had entered the restaurant around 1:15 a.m. He was shot several times with a handgun after a struggle as a few employees looked on. He was pronounced dead at St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center less than an hour later.

Another person shot in the confrontation, identified only as a 42-year-old man, has been released from the hospital.

Besides his son and fiancee, Franklin is survived by his mother, three sisters and a brother. *