NJ Man Poses As Cop, Shoots Wife’s Lover Dead, Affidavit Says

HOWELL, NJ — A Howell Township man who was shot to death because he had an affair with the wife of the man accused of shooting him, according to court documents.

Juan Jesus Mejia Yanza, 33, has been charged with first-degree murder and two related second-degree weapons offenses in the killing of Rolando Acte Mejia, 36, of Howell, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago has said.

Yanza was arrested Friday at his home in Howell, the prosecutor's office said.

According to the probable cause affidavit filed in Yanza's arrest, Yanza's wife told authorities she had been having an affair with Mejia when Mejia lived with her and her family in Howell, but Mejia had moved out several months earlier in an attempt to end the affair, she told authorities.

The woman also told authorities she and Yanza had separated after she admitted to the affair, but that Yanza had begged her to stay with him, the affidavit said.

In spite of Mejia trying to end the affair, the woman told authorities she continued to pursue him and claimed they spoke daily by cell phone, the affidavit said.

She told investigators she was speaking to Mejia bout 10:30 p.m. on June 4 while Mejia was parked at the Wawa not far from where he was found shot to death, and they spoke for about an hour, according to the affidavit.

As Mejia left the parking lot, the woman told authorities that "almost immediately he told her a policeman had seen him talking on the cell phone and was pulling him over," the affidavit said. She told authorities she did not hear any sirens, and Mejia hung up immediately.

She said she tried to call and text Mejia through the rest of the night but did not get an answer, according to the affidavit.

Investigators found through video surveillance footage that Yanza left his home the night of June 4 and drove his white Ford Explorer first near Mejia's home in Howell before finding him at a home on Southport Drive. From there, Yanza followed Mejia as Mejia drove his silver Toyota RAV4 to the Wawa where Mejia had the conversation with the woman, the affidavit said.

Both vehicles remained parked there for almost an hour, the affidavit said.

The surveillance footage then showed Yanza's Ford Explorer following Mejia's Toyota RAV4 as it left the Wawa parking lot onto White Street, the affidavit said.

"Less than one minute later, the white Ford Explorer traveled directly behind Victim Mejia’s vehicle with aftermarket LED emergency lights activated inside the windshield, similar to an unmarked police cruiser, utilizing the emergency lights to 'pull over' Victim Mejia’s vehicle," the affidavit said.

Surveillance footage showed Yanza returning to his Howell home in the white Ford Explorer in the early hours of June 5, and a review of cell phone records showed Yanza's phone had been in all the areas at the times the Explorer was in the area, the affidavit said.

Mejia was found about 6:45 a.m. on June 5 after police were called about a man dead in a parked vehicle, authorities said.

Police found two 9mm shell casings and a projectile inside the vehicle, the affidavit said.

Previous reporting:

• Dead Man In Howell ID'd; He Was Fatally Shot, Monmouth Prosecutor Says
• Man's Death Under Investigation; Multiple Properties Being Probed, Authorities Say