Arrest In Shooting Death, Heroin Bust, Wild Montclair Moms

It may be a quiet summer in some parts but it's been another busy week in Montclair. In case you missed them, here are the top five stories from the past seven days in Montclair. If you have any stories you'd like to see covered, please email Shelley@patch.com.

A 21-year-old Montclair man was charged with murder Friday in the shooting death of a University of Villanova student, whom police said was apparently killed during a robbery. Ernest Williams was charged with the  a 21-year-old from Ridgefield, Conn., authorities said. Williams allegedly has been arrested a few times in the past two years on various drug charges.

The South Orange Maplewood Board of Education approved the appointment of Dr. Lydia Furnari as the district’s new Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction on Wednesday. Furnari is currently Director of Curriculum in the Montclair Public Schools (MPS). Montclair residents are still waiting for the hiring of a permanent superintendent.

A 24-year-old Paterson man was arrested after being caught with dozens of glassine envelopes of heroin in Upper Montclair, police said. Jaime Rodriguez was arrested in a yard on Lorraine Avenue near Valley Road after dropping 10 envelopes of heroin on the ground. Police said he then threw another 40 envelopes of heroin over a fence.

Deshon L. Johnson, the 22-year-old Essex County College student killed by a NJ Transit bus last week, aspired to be a singer, rapper, artist, and writer—all while pursuing a college degree. Johnson's life was celebrated this week during a church service at Christ Church in Montclair.

An article published on CNN.com talked about how married women with children in their 40s were partying like they were in their 20s. The article said: "When having dinner at a pub in Montclair, New Jersey, my girlfriend, a local, started pointing out patrons she knew who were at the bar cheating on their spouses. They were all parents and none of them seemed to be looking over their shoulders. Later she introduced me to a couple with kids who decided to make their marriage an open one after the wife's affair with a neighbor was exposed."

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