Funeral service Friday for teen killed in Bloomfield crash

  Web produced by Bill King, Eyewitness NewsBLOOMFIELD (WABC) -- Funeral services will be held in New Jersey Friday for a teenager killed in a car crash last weekend.

Hundreds of mourners turned out at a wake in Bloomfield Thursday night to pay their respects to 16-year-old Christina Lembo.

Friends remember Lembo, a junior at Bloomfield High School, as a sweet, smart athlete. Four other people were hurt in the crash, none of them seriously. The driver, Omar Baldeon, was consumed with thoughts of what, if anything, he could have done differently.

Baldeon was driving with two classmates in the car just after 11 p.m. when a black Camaro that eyewitnesses believe was drag racing with another car blind-sided him, slamming into his Honda Civic.

No charges have yet been filed. The case is expected to go to a grand jury.

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Funeral for teen killed on party bus

  Eyewitness NewsFORT LEE, N.J. (WABC) -- A private funeral was held Tuesday for the student killed after he stuck his head out of the roof of a party bus last week.

Hundreds of mourners gathered Monday night in Rego Park, Queens, to say goodbye to Daniel Fernandez.

The 16-year old was about to enter his junior year at St. Francis Prep in Fresh Meadows.

The incident happened near the George Washington Bridge in New Jersey. Fernandez struck on overhead beam on an overpass after sticking his head out the escape hatch, while his friends watched in horror.

"He just made everybody smile," friend Cheyenne Coco said. "He never let anybody be upset. And he just always liked to joke around. We always had a good time with him."

Evidence of Fernandez's popularity was seen in the line of mourners at Monday's wake. The line stretched around the funeral home on Woodhaven Boulevard.

Designer Limousines, the company that owns the party bus, says they had two employees on the bus.

They say their emergency hatches were compliant with the law, but that a poor decision made by the students to open the hatch is what led to this accident.

CLICK HERE TO SEE PHOTOS FROM THE ACCIDENT AND VIGIL.

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Funeral services on Friday for NJ lawmaker

FILE In this Dec. 27, 2007 file photograph, New Jersey Assemblyman Alex DeCroce, R-Morris Plains, asks a question during a joint hearing of the Assembly Budget and Education committees in Trenton, N.J. Late Monday, Jan. 9, 2012, DeCroce collapsed and died at the Statehouse after the legislature wrapped-up the last day of their session. ( (AP Photo/Mel Evans,file))

  Eyewitness NewsPARSIPPANY, N.J. -- Funeral services will be held Friday for Alex DeCroce, the New Jersey Republican Assembly leader who died at the Statehouse this week after a late-night session.

The 10 a.m. service at St. Peter the Apostle Church in Parsippany will be followed by burial in Gate of Heaven Cemetery, East Hanover.

Visiting hours will be 3 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Par-Troy Funeral Home in Parsippany. DeCroce's family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the New Jersey Crime Victims Law Center.

A lawmaker since 1989, DeCroce was also a Realtor who owned his own company.

The 75-year-old collapsed late Monday night after the Assembly adjourned. He was pronounced dead by a colleague who is also a physician.

State police attributed the death to a heart-related issue.

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Funeral Thursday for slain Newark officer

  Tiffany Jackson, Eyewitness NewsNEWARK, N.J. (WABC) -- A wake was held Wednesday night for Newark police officer William Johnson, who was shot and killed last week in a drive-by shooting while off-duty inside a restaurant in Newark.

The single father of two girls was a 16-year veteran of the force.

Johnson's funeral service is set for Thursday at 11 a.m. at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark.

One man is charged with the murder.

Police are still looking for another suspect.

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