2nd suspect wanted in boy's slaying arrested in Florida

ASBURY PARK, N.J. -- A second suspect wanted in connection with a New Jersey shooting that left a 10-year-old boy dead and his mother wounded was arrested Sunday night in Florida.

Karon Council, 18, of Neptune Township, was arrested in Pompano Beach, the Monmouth County prosecutor's office said on Twitter. He will be held at the Broward County Jail before being extradited to New Jersey to face charges including murder, conspiracy to commit murder, aggravated assault and weapons offenses, authorities said. It was not immediately clear if he had an attorney who could comment on the charges.

A 16-year-old Neptune Township boy was taken into custody earlier and faces the same charges following Wednesday night's shooting of Yovanni Banos-Merino in his Asbury Park home. The boy's 38-year-old mother was treated at a hospital.

Prosecutors have said they believe the 16-year-old arrested Thursday was an accomplice of the shooter, who was aiming at a man in the same home as the victims. They have not said whether he is being charged as a juvenile or an adult. Investigators have not disclosed a motive for the shooting.

On Saturday night, the sister of the slain boy told mourners at a candlelight vigil that the child would not want to see people crying for him.

Vanessa Martinez struggled for composure as she said Banos-Merino "loved everybody so," the Asbury Park Press reported . Martinez said her brother had such a big heart that he would give belongings, like his skateboard, away to his friends, if they did not have them.

"He doesn't want to see you guys cry, I know that, because he'll get mad and say, 'Why are you guys crying? Don't cry, I'm OK.'" she said. "Even though he's not going to be here anymore, I know he's looking after us and saying, 'Everything is going to be OK.'"

About 50 people took part in the vigil at the Boys & Girls Club of Monmouth County.

"The hope here is not that we rally to some political cause or to be anti-this or anti-that, but that we can continue to stand shoulder to shoulder and be one as a community, and go forward from this place in a way that reinvigorates this community for a better future," said Doug Eagles, the club's executive director.

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