Man accused in 3 deaths over Facebook post pleads not guilty

NEWARK, N.J. – A man who authorities say was angry about a Facebook post pleaded not guilty Thursday to stabbing three people to death and knifing three others in New Jersey’s largest city.

Jeremy Arrington, 26, appeared in court in Newark, where he faced three counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder, among other charges, stemming from an attack Saturday.

Arrington might have been angry that one of the victims had reposted a Facebook alert from police naming him as a suspect in a shooting and sexual assault last month, authorities said.

Killed in the attacks Saturday were 8-year-old Aerial Little Whitehurst and 11-year-old Al-Jahon Whitehurst, both of Newark, and 23-year-old college student Syasia McBurroughs, of Hanover Township. The children were sister and brother; McBurroughs was not related to them and was visiting the family, authorities said.

Arrington went to the home, which is owned by the grandmother of the children, and apparently encountered nine people, authorities said. He stabbed six over the course of about an hour, but two other children and an adult escaped without injury, authorities said.