Alleged shooter in Fairview death detained, getaway driver under house arrest

HACKENSACK — A North Bergen man accused of killing David Duque-Soto in a botched Fairview drug deal will remain jailed until his trial, while the alleged getaway driver will serve house arrest, a judge ruled Wednesday. 

The family of Duque-Soto wore dark sunglasses to hide their tears as a judge in Hackensack deemed Raul Torres, one of the alleged shooters, too dangerous to release. 

Earlier in the day, the judge showed leniency to David Martinez, who allegedly waited in a Toyota Corolla while three men stormed Duque-Soto’s Fourth Street apartment.

Martinez’s attorneys claimed he never knew the encounter would end in violence, but Judge James Sattely said the argument was premature. 

“The issues as to Mr. Martinez’s ultimate involvement are left for another day,” Sattely said. 

Prosecutors said the 19-year-old duo played an integral role in the armed robbery that began with the motive to steal a gun from Duque-Soto’s home and ended with the 23-year-old dead from multiple gunshot wounds. 

Authorities arrested Torres and Martinez on July 2, along with Lexie Burke Carlos and Juan Burgos, who are also detained pending trial. All four were charged with felony murder. 

The group visited Duque-Soto’s apartment on June 29 with the hope of buying marijuana, but left empty handed, according to the state. Surveillance footage showed Burke, Burgos and Torres returning to the apartment a short while later, entering through a side door while Martinez waited outside, records show. 

About 70 seconds later, three gunshots were fired, and the three men allegedly piled into the Toyota Corolla, according to the state. 

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Following their arrest, Burke allegedly told police that Burgos and Torres both brought guns with them to the armed robbery and each shot Duque-Soto. 

Prosecutors said Burke also confessed that the group hatched the haphazard plan to revisit Duque-Soto’s apartment to “F… him up” and steal his gun after the first trip. 

Torres’ attorney, however, said she plans to explore a host of defenses including self-defense, after Burke allegedly told police that Duque-Soto pointed a gun at them during the first meeting. 

“The state does not have credible evidence that this was a robbery,” Ilene McFarland, an attorney with the public defender’s office, said. 

The state claims that Burgos and Torres brandished 9mm and .32-caliber handguns when they entered the apartment, where authorities later discovered two 9mm shell casings and one .32-caliber shell casing from the scene. 

A 9mm handgun that Burgos allegedly gave to a friend after using it to “shoot someone” was recovered. But the .32-caliber Torres allegedly used remains missing, McFarland said. 

“There is no evidence that Raul Torres at any time handled a weapon,” she said. 

Frank Carbonetti, Martinez’s attorney, said the state will have to prove that his client had prior knowledge of the robbery in order to convict him of felony murder. 

“He was there for the mere purpose to smoke weed and get high,” Carbonetti said.