James Zarate’s sentence upheld again

Judge won’t shorten prison term for James Zarate in killing of Randolph girl:

I apologize for not posting this story sooner. Usually, the murder of Jennifer Parks is a story that demands my immediate attention but somehow I let this one sit for a while and too long.

James Zarate has had his life sentence for his part in Jennifer’s murder upheld once again. He was 14 at the time of Jennifer’s murder where he and his older brother Jonathan Zarate lured their neighbor Jennifer to their home where they killed her and dismembered her body. They stuffed her remains in a trunk and waited a day before trying to dispose of her remains in the Passaic River. Both brothers were sentenced to life.

James Zarate’s attorney tried arguing that the Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that the mandatory sentencing of juveniles to life without parole is unconstitutional. Prosecutors argued that the Supreme Court ruling only applies to state statutes not to mention that James Zarate is eligible for parole, albeit when he’s in his seventies.

I don’t care that this scumbag was 14 at the time he helped kill Jennifer. Her murder not only ended her life but it’s destroyed the lives of her parents as well. The Parks divorced and then a couple of years ago David Parks died from a heart attack. There is no amount of jail time that either brother could serve that would even come close to being justice for Jennifer.