🚨 Suspect Juan Jesus Mejia Yanza followed the victim before the shooting

🚨 Rolando Acte Mejia pulled over for what he thought was a police officer

🚨 Rolando was in a relationship with Yanza's wife


HOWELL — Police say a jealous husband went as far as using police-style lights to fake a traffic stop, creating the chance to execute the man he believed was sleeping with his estranged wife.

Juan Jesus Mejia Yanza, 33, was charged by Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago Saturday with first-degree murder of Rolando Acte Mejia, 36, of Howell, the morning of June 6.

Mejia was found dead in a car parked on White Street. Police found two 9 mm shell casings inside the car, according to the affidavit filed by investigators in Monmouth County.

Husband tricked victim into pulling over, cops say

According to investigators, Mejia sat inside his silver Toyota RAV 4 in the parking lot of a Wawa store during the evening of June 4, talking to Yanza's estranged wife, a woman he was involved with romantically but was trying to break things off. After an hour, Mejia left the Wawa but continued talking on the phone.

Mejia ended the conversation and told the woman a police officer had pulled him over, so he had to hang up for fear of getting a ticket, investigators said.

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Fake lights used to pull victim over

Yanza had spent the evening following Mejia's white Ford Explorer around Howell to the Wawa. Once Mejia left the store, Yanza came up from behind on White Street and turned on the emergency lights he had on his windshield, investigators said.

Mejia was found hours later, shot dead inside the RAV 4 on White Street.

The affidavit did not disclose details of Yanza's arrest.  Yanza was also charged with second-degree weapons offenses, including not having a permit for a handgun.

On the day the Mejia's body was found, a SWAT team barged into a home in Howell. Video posted by News 12 showed a male walking out of the house and surrendering to police.

Unnamed law enforcement sources told NBC New York that a barricade situation ensued because someone who had answered the door believed police were immigration officials.

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