Fourth suspect charged in 2021 Newburgh taxi driver murder
Jahseem Miller was charged in the 2021 killing of Newburgh cabdriver Jorge Arbayza, the fourth suspect tied to a case that has stretched across years and state lines.
A fourth suspect has now been charged in the 2021 killing of Newburgh taxi driver Jorge Arbayza, adding another layer to a case that has moved from North Miller Street to a years-long, multi-state hunt for answers.
Jahseem Miller was arrested May 8 and charged with second-degree murder. He was being held in the Orange County Jail and was due back in Orange County Court before Judge Brown on May 29. The new charge came as investigators continued to build a case around the fatal shooting that left a cabdriver dead in the city center.
The shooting happened just after 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 30, 2021, when officers responded to reports of shots fired on North Miller Street. Police found 51-year-old Jorge Arbayza De La Cruz on the ground next to a cab. Arbayza, a Newburgh resident who was driving for Express USA Taxi, later died at a local hospital. Obituary records also showed that he was born in Peru.
Miller’s arrest followed the earlier indictments of three other Newburgh men. Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler announced those charges on April 16, 2025, against Nehemiah Clarke, Jordan Burch and Damani Cruz. County records said Clarke and Burch were charged with second-degree murder, first-degree attempted robbery, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, fourth-degree conspiracy and related charges. Cruz was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, fourth-degree conspiracy and related charges.
Officials said the earlier arrests reflected a sprawling investigation that had stretched across state lines. Clarke was located in South Carolina with help from the U.S. Military Criminal Investigation Division and the U.S. Marshals Service. Burch was located in Hartford, Connecticut with help from City of Newburgh detectives and U.S. Marshals, and Cruz was arrested by City of Newburgh detectives on April 4, 2025. Trials for the previously charged defendants were scheduled for Aug. 17.
For Newburgh, the fourth arrest signals that the case remains active more than four years after Arbayza was killed. It also brings prosecutors another step closer to answering what happened on North Miller Street and to the accountability that Arbayza’s family and the city’s taxi-driving community have waited years to see.
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