DeRosa faces 30 years to life in prison if convicted of murder.
JERSEY CITY -- Closing arguments are expected tomorrow morning in the murder trial of the Bloomfield man charged with fatally shooting a father of two during the robbery at the victim's Kearny jewelry store in 2009.
John DeRosa, 58, of Bloomfield, is charged with murdering Xavier Egoavil, 47, of Kearny, on Aug. 18, 2009, in the man's Rachel Jewelers on Kearny Avenue. The victim was survived by his wife, Gina, and two children: a son who was 10 years old at the time and a daughter who was 6.
DeRosa's co-defendant Elvis Feratovic, 30, of Bloomfield, testified during the trial that he was the getaway driver on the morning of the robbery, and that he drove co-defendant Edmir Sokoli, 29, of Bloomfield, to Kearny where they picked up DeRosa near the jewelry store.
Sokoli testified that DeRosa was armed with a pistol when they entered the store and as he cleaned out jewelry racks Egoavil became aggressive with DeRosa and DeRosa shot him.
Sokoli and Feratovic testified that they met DeRosa at the Guitar Bar in Newark were the pair worked as security and DeRosa presented them with the plan for the robbery
This afternoon, DeRosa's attorney, Scott Finkenhauer, attempted to put a waitress from the bar on the witness stand who had said the bar's manager told her he got a call from Sokoli telling him about the robbery and shooting.
The waitress had given a statement to investigators saying under oath that the manager told her Feratovic and Sokoli had gotten into a shootout in Kearny and that they killed a guy in a jewelry store and stole all the jewelry.
But the manager was called to the stand out of the presence of the jury and he said he had no recollection of getting a phone call or having a conversation with Sokoli in which he was told any such thing.
When the former waitress took the stand today -- also out of the presence of the jury -- she said the manager told her that he got a call from Sokoli, who said "Eddie and Elvis were involved in a shooting and they wouldn't be coming in. That's what I can remember now."
Finkenhauer asked the witness if she asked the manager who had killed the person and she replied "Yeah."
Finkenhauer continued by asking, "And did he tell you he thought Eddie had killed the person?"
"Yeah," the former waitress replied.
In the end, Hudson County Superior Court Judge Patrick Arre ruled that the waitress could not testify before the jury, saying, in part, that her testimony was double hearsay.
Feratovic and Sokoli were charged with felony murder but both pleaded guilty to robbery and agreed to testify against DeRosa. Each faces up to 20 years in prison when sentenced. Both have been in jail since not long after the fatal shooting.
Feratovic testified for the state during the trial as part his plea deal and Sokoli testified for the state as well. DeRosa's former girlfriend, Marissa Fuzio, also testified for the prosecution. The state rested this morning and the defense is expected to rest tomorrow morning after some legal matters are hashed out.
DeRosa faces 30 years to life in prison if convicted of murder.