On the night of June 20, 2015, Enpaul Cantero, a 24-year-old Hispanic man from Garfield, New Jersey, was fatally shot in a brazen act of violence outside the Cloud 9 Lounge on Market Street in Passaic. The evening, which had been spent with friends, took a tragic turn in the early morning hours as Cantero stood on the sidewalk after the nightclub closed.
In an instant, a celebratory atmosphere turned deadly.
A man, later identified as Luis Del Carmen, approached Cantero and shot him in the chest at close range. The assailant then callously ripped a chain from Cantero's neck. The bullet that tore through Cantero's body tragically also struck 22-year-old Denisse Gonzalez, who was standing behind him, killing her as well. A third individual was also shot and wounded in the chaotic attack. Emergency services rushed the victims to St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center, but both Cantero and Gonzalez succumbed to their injuries.
The investigation that followed revealed the shooting was the result of a robbery. Three men were ultimately charged in connection with the violent deaths. The primary aggressor, Luis Del Carmen, was identified as the shooter. Following a trial that concluded in January 2018, a jury found Del Carmen guilty on multiple counts, including two counts of murder. For his role in the deaths of Enpaul Cantero and Denisse Gonzalez, he was sentenced to an overall term of 118 years in prison. Two other men, Johan Gonzalez and Augusto Solano, were also charged with felony murder and conspiracy to commit robbery for their involvement in the incident that cut short the lives of two young people.
