'He's a monster and he needs to be kept in a dungeon' mother says of 11-year-old's killer

KEANSBURG - For the first time in the more than six years since her 11-year-old daughter was raped and murdered by a neighbor in Keansburg, Carol Bennett said she has something to laugh about — that her daughter's killer thought he should get less time in prison because of the mean things the victim's family said about him in court.

"I find it hilarious," Carol Bennett, mother of murder victim Abbiegail Smith, said of Andreas Erazo's argument for a shorter prison term.

Erazo, 24, argued in a recent appeal that his life sentence is excessive and constitutes cruel and unusual punishment because the judge who imposed it relied upon "denigrating" statements made about him at his sentencing by the victim's family, including Bennett, court papers said.

"I was mean to him," Bennett said. "The words that were said to him, he doesn't think he deserved to be called those words.

"I find it very funny," Bennett said. "Yes, I find it funny because I guess it's my time to laugh, Mr. Erazo. Yes, it's my time now to laugh."

A panel of appellate judges, while not saying it found any humor in the situation, issued an opinion last week rejecting Erazo's argument and upholding the life sentence imposed on him in May 2019 by Superior Court Judge David F. Bauman in Monmouth County for the child's murder and rape.

Judges Michael J. Haas, Greta Gooden Brown and Arnold L. Natali Jr. of the Appellate Division of Superior Court also rejected Erazo's argument for a lesser term based on his youthful age when he committed the crimes in 2017, months after his 18th birthday.

The judges, in their unanimous ruling, noted that when Bennett addressed the judge at Erazo's sentencing, she referred to her daughter's killer as "wicked" multiple times, including saying he was "a wicked, cold-hearted pedophile and murderer." She also called him a "disgusting person and cold-hearted killer," and "an evil monster," the judges noted.

While Erazo's defense attorney asked Bauman to disregard statements made by the victim's relatives that could be considered "ridicule or a verbal attack," the judge responded, "I'm not going to disregard a single word that was spoken in this courtroom," the appellate decision noted.

The sentencing judge went on to say, "I took those statements in the context of the circumstances from the grieved victims."

The appellate judges said they saw no evidence that Bauman gave "undue weight or consideration to the pointed remarks made by (the victim's) survivors in determining the sentence."

Bauman's analysis was "sober, dispassionate and in accord with the sentencing guidelines in the New Jersey Code of Criminal Justice," the judges wrote.

Bennett said she stands by the words she said about Erazo at his sentencing.

"I said it at the trial and I'm saying it again to you — he needs to go and rot in hell," Bennett said of her daughter's killer in a telephone interview with the Asbury Park Press, in response to the appellate court ruling.

"He is a monster, and he needs to be kept in a dungeon right where he belongs," she said of Erazo. "I'm not going back on my word."

Bennett said she was pleased with the court's ruling, but said "it is just a salve on a very big wound."

Abbigail went missing from her apartment in the Hancock Arms complex in Keansburg on July 12, 2017.

Her body was discovered the next day, wrapped in a futon cover, on a rooftop outside Erazo's bedroom window, upstairs from the victim's apartment. She had been stabbed to death and raped, her hands and feet were bound with computer cords, and most of her clothing had been removed.

Erazo was being questioned by detectives when the victim's body was discovered. He eventually confessed to stabbing the child, claiming he thought she was an intruder in his apartment. He also told detectives he blacked out and didn't know if he had sexually assaulted the girl — an act that was later confirmed through DNA evidence.

With his trial looming in February 2019, Erazo pleaded guilty to murder and aggravated sexual assault in a deal that took a sentence of life without the possibility of release on parole off the table.

Despite his guilty plea, Erazo appealed his convictions and sentence, claiming detectives should have read him his Miranda rights when he first went to the Keansburg police station in 2017 to give a witness statement about the girl's disappearance.

A panel of appellate judges in 2022 agreed that Erazo should have been read his rights before police questioned him, ruling he should be allowed to take back his guilty plea.

However, the state Supreme Court in June reversed that decision and upheld Erazo's convictions, saying there was no requirement for detectives to read the defendant his rights when he was not yet a suspect in a crime. The high court did not consider the defendant's claim that his sentence was excessive and instead sent that issue back to the Appellate Division to consider.

The sentence upheld by the appellate court requires Erazo to serve 63 years and nine months in prison for the murder before he can be considered for release on parole. It includes a concurrent, 50-year term imposed for the rape.

The victim's aunt, Cecille Bennett, also reacted to the appellate decision, standing by what she said at the sentencing.

"I just don't know what else they expected us to say at the sentencing hearing, considering what he (Erazo) did to my niece and what it has done to our family" Cecille Bennett said.

"I said that he's a hardened, cold-blooded sexual predator and that he's a very dangerous criminal with a sick twisted mind," the victim's aunt said. "I stand by that statement.

"I described him as being wicked and heartless and that he does not deserve to have anything close to a normal life in prison, and I stand by that as well," she said. "I also said that he deserves the death penalty, but since that is not an option, he must spend the rest of his miserable life in one of this country's toughest prisons, and I stand by that. He deserves everything he gets and then some."

Carol Bennett said Erazo's lawyers "are a disgrace" and should be embarrassed for the argument they put forth on his behalf in attempt to lesson his sentence.

Jennifer Sellitti, spokesman for the state Public Defender's Office which represented Erazo, issued the following statement in response:

"The criminal legal system depends upon the public defenders who, every day in courtrooms across this state, safeguard the rights of people who have been accused or convicted of crimes. It is the defense attorney's role to advocate for people by arguing the law and other factors relevant to the court in sentencing, just as attorney (Morgan A.) Birck did in this case."

But, the victim's mother said justice has prevailed, and now the appeals need to stop.

"They just need to let this little girl's soul rest in peace once and for all," Carol Bennett said.

She noted Abbiegail would have been turning 18 later this month on Oct. 25.

"I guess it's over now," she said of the criminal case.

"I pray that this is the end of it so Abbie can finally rest in peace," Cecille Bennett said.

"The family sincerely thanks the Keansburg police, the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office, the dedicated staff and the Supreme Court of New Jersey for ensuring we got justice for Abbie," Cecille Bennett added. "We are eternally grateful to everyone who has stood by us and lovingly supported us throughout this ordeal. It has been a long, tortuous journey, but I believe our family will overcome by God's grace."

Kathleen Hopkins, a reporter in New Jersey since 1985, covers crime, court cases, legal issues and just about every major murder trial to hit Monmouth and Ocean counties. Contact her at khopkins@app.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Murdered Keansburg girl's mother reacts to ruling in killer's case