Three Convicted in 2008 Murder, Kidnapping of Somerset County Woman

Three men were convicted Wednesday, May 20, in the 2008 kidnapping, murder and robbery of Somerset County woman Tanya Worthy, according to the Union County Prosecutor’s Office.

Sharif Torres, 26, Robert Harris, 31, both of Philadelphia, and Jamel Lewis, 36, of Newark, were convicted on charges of felony murder, kidnapping, two counts of robbery and aggravated arson, the prosecutor’s office said. A fourth defendant, Rashawn Bond, 38, was tried and convicted separately in 2014. Bond was sentenced to life in prison last fall, authorities said.

In October 2008, Bond, an acquaintance of Worthy, invited her to his home, according to Union County Deputy First Assistant Prosecutor Ann M. Luvera and Assistant Prosecutor Bruce M. Holmes, who prosecuted the case. After arriving at Bond’s home, the other defendants rushed into the home in what the assistant prosecutor said was a “staged robbery”.

The four men took Worthy to her home in Green Brook, where they believed she had significant amounts of money in a safe, but Worthy’s boyfriend thwarted the attempted robbery by rushing back into the home after seeing one of the defendants carrying a firearm, authorities said.

According to Luvera, the defendants left Worthy’s home in her BMW and later shot and killed her in an undetermined located. They then drove the car to an isolated part of Elizabeth and torched the vehicle with Worthy’s body inside, the assistant prosecutor said.

Bond, Torres, Harris and Lewis were all identified as suspects after a yearlong investigation. They were all arrested in December 2009.

“Today’s verdict is a testament to the tenacity of the detectives and prosecutors who made it their mission over the course of nearly seven years to earn justice for Tanya Worthy and her family and friends,” acting Union County Prosecutor Grace H. Park said in a release.

Sentencing for Torres, Harris and Lewis is scheduled for later this year. The Union County Prosecutor’s Office said they are each expected to face terms of up to life in state prison.

(Photos courtesy of the Union County Prosecutor’s Office)