Three teens accused of murdering an Orthodox Jewish MMA fighter allegedly stole swords, drugs and a scale from his Florida home during a deadly home invasion in July, according to new indictments.
The three teens – Jace Swinton, 18, Summer Church, 17, and Roberto Ortiz, 18 – were booked Friday into the Palm Beach County Jail, where they remain held without bail on charges of first-degree murder and home invasion with either a firearm or deadly weapon for the July 3 murder of mixed martial arts fighter Aaron “The Matzoh Brawler” Rajman, the Palm Beach Post reports.
The teens, according to indictments handed down by a grand jury on Aug. 31, robbed the 25-year-old Rajman of swords, marijuana, narcotics and money during the deadly home invasion at his home in Boca Raton. They also stole a cellphone from a woman named Autumn Matthews, but the indictments don’t specify her connection to Rajman.
It’s also unclear which of three teens allegedly shot Rajman after several men entered his home at about 10:30 p.m. on July 3. The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office initially made no mention of a female teen – later identified as Church – as participating in the crime, the newspaper reports.
“This was no random act of violence,” Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg said in a statement Tuesday. “Mr. Rajman was targeted by these defendants, and we intend to seek justice for the victim and his family.”
Earlier reports identified Church as 16. Church is actually 17 years old and will be tried as an adult, Aronberg said.
Church’s mother, Judi Church, has told the Florida Sun-Sentinel that a group of men including Swinton and Ortiz forced her at gunpoint to call Rajman before the alleged home invasion to make sure he was home. Church said the men knew Rajman and her daughter were acquaintances after meeting at a convenience store in January. Church said her daughter was dating Swinton at the time.
“I’m grateful they were caught,” Rajman’s girlfriend, Emily Imber, told the Palm Beach Post on Friday. “I hope they get all of them. This has been devastating.”
A source close to the former fighter who had a 2-2 record since becoming a professional declined to comment on the indictments, the Palm Beach Post reports. A family friend told the newspaper that the New York native had recently shared a home west of Boca Raton with his mother and other relatives after moving to Florida as a child.
Rajman, a 145-pound featherweight who trained at American Top Team in Coconut Creek, lost his last professional fight in May 2016, according to mixed martial arts website Sherdog. He was known for entering the ring while wearing a yarmulke, proudly representing his Orthodox background in fighting circles.