TRENTON
– Attorney General Paula T. Dow announced
today that DNA testing has confirmed that
the infant found on the bank of the Raritan
River on April 24 is Zara Malani-Lin Abdur-Raheem,
who had been missing since Feb. 16, when
her biological father allegedly threw her
from the Driscoll Bridge on the Garden State
Parkway.
DNA
testing on the body of the infant conducted
by the State Police Forensic Science Laboratory
has resulted in a positive identification
of the infant as Zara Malani-Lin Abdur-Raheem,
according to Attorney General Dow.
Baby
Zara was found by people walking on the
south bank of the river on the morning of
April 24, just east of the Route 35 Victory
Bridge. The clothing and wrappings in which
she was found were consistent with descriptions
given to police on Feb. 16.
Shamsiddin
Abdur-Raheem, 21, of Galloway Township,
has been charged by complaint with murder,
a first-degree offense that carries a sentence
of 30 years to life in state prison, according
to Criminal Justice Director Stephen J.
Taylor. The next phase of the case is to
present the allegations and charges against
the father to a state grand jury for potential
indictment.
According
to the complaint filed in Superior Court
in Middlesex County, Abdur-Raheem allegedly
caused the death of Zara on Feb. 16 while
parked on the southbound shoulder of the
Garden State Parkway on the Driscoll Bridge
in Woodbridge Township. He allegedly pushed
or threw the victim from the front passenger
window of his Dodge Caravan into the Raritan
River.
In
addition, Abdur-Raheem was charged in Essex
County with kidnapping and attempted murder,
both first-degree offenses, for allegedly
abducting the infant from the apartment
of her maternal grandmother in East Orange.
He was also charged with endangering the
welfare of a child and two counts of aggravated
assault.
Abdur-Raheem
is being held in the Essex County Jail,
with bail set at $2.7 million. The charges
against him are merely accusations and he
is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
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