Search for kidnapped baby continues
By Chris Sykes, Staff Writer
The search continues for 3-month-old Zara Malani-Lin Abdur-Raheem, the child authorities said was kidnapped from a grandmother’s apartment in East Orange two weeks ago. Her father, who has been charged with murder even though her body has not been recovered, has pleaded not guilty in two court proceedings.
Shamsiddin Abdur-Raheem, who authorities allege threw his daughter off the Alfred E. Driscoll Bridge on the Garden State Parkway as he was making his getaway, appeared Monday in a Middlesex County court via a video feed from the Essex County Jail in Newark. Even though the baby has not been found, late on Feb. 24 Middlesex County prosecutors announced their decision to upgrade charges against Abdur-Raheem to murder. The accused man pleaded not guilty to the upgraded charge and will remain in the Essex County Jail after bail was increased to $2 million. It originally was set at $700,000.
A week earlier, Abdur-Raheem pleaded not guilty to charges in Essex County that he kidnapped the baby from her maternal grandmother’s house, assaulted the woman and attempted to murder his child.
According to a statement from Deputy Attorney General Andrew C. Fried, no decision has been made on which county would get the face trial. Although the State Police have significantly reduced their search and recovery efforts in the Raritan River waters near Driscoll Bridge, there was still hope in some circles that baby Zara’s body, if nothing else, might be recovered.
Police claim Abdur-Raheem allegedly went to the grandmother’s home on Feb. 16, shortly after the baby’s mother received a restraining order against him. The grandmother was babysitting her granddaughter while the mother, Venetta Benjamin, was away from the residence. The grandmother told officers Abdur-Raheem attacked her, took the baby then ran from the apartment building to the street where a minivan was waiting to spirit them both away.
The search continues for 3-month-old Zara Malani-Lin Abdur-Raheem, the child authorities said was kidnapped from a grandmother’s apartment in East Orange two weeks ago. Her father, who has been charged with murder even though her body has not been recovered, has pleaded not guilty in two court proceedings.
Shamsiddin Abdur-Raheem, who authorities allege threw his daughter off the Alfred E. Driscoll Bridge on the Garden State Parkway as he was making his getaway, appeared Monday in a Middlesex County court via a video feed from the Essex County Jail in Newark. Even though the baby has not been found, late on Feb. 24 Middlesex County prosecutors announced their decision to upgrade charges against Abdur-Raheem to murder. The accused man pleaded not guilty to the upgraded charge and will remain in the Essex County Jail after bail was increased to $2 million. It originally was set at $700,000.
A week earlier, Abdur-Raheem pleaded not guilty to charges in Essex County that he kidnapped the baby from her maternal grandmother’s house, assaulted the woman and attempted to murder his child.
According to a statement from Deputy Attorney General Andrew C. Fried, no decision has been made on which county would get the face trial. Although the State Police have significantly reduced their search and recovery efforts in the Raritan River waters near Driscoll Bridge, there was still hope in some circles that baby Zara’s body, if nothing else, might be recovered.
Police claim Abdur-Raheem allegedly went to the grandmother’s home on Feb. 16, shortly after the baby’s mother received a restraining order against him. The grandmother was babysitting her granddaughter while the mother, Venetta Benjamin, was away from the residence. The grandmother told officers Abdur-Raheem attacked her, took the baby then ran from the apartment building to the street where a minivan was waiting to spirit them both away.
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