Pennsylvania Man Charged With Murder In Death Of Kearny Teen
JERSEY CITY, N.J. (CBSNewYork) - A Pennsylvania mas has been charged with murder for the death of a 16-year-old Kearny, N.J. girl, prosecutors announced Sunday.
Cruz Martinez, Jr., 41, of Hazelton, Penn. was arrested on Saturday by Pennsylvania authorities on unrelated charges but was later charged by the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office in the murder of Alisha Colon, 16. He also faces weapons charges.
Colon was found in a bedroom of her Belgrove Drive apartment with a gunshot wound to the head around 6:20 Thursday evening, according to authorities. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Authorities said earlier Thursday, some members of the victim's family were involved in a street fight outside the home. Colon was not part of the altercation, according to authorities.
Detectives are working to determine if the fight and the fatal shooting are linked, according to the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office.
Martinez is being held on $10 million bail in a Pennsylvania jail where he awaits extradition proceedings.
Colon was reportedly babysitting her 7-year-old brother when she was shot.
"Whoever did this don't have no heart, to just come and kill innocent people," friend Brenda Velasquez said last week. "She was so innocent."
Late last week, police arrested 37-year-old Edwin Mendez, Jr. of Belleville with unlawful possession of a weapon and terroristic threats in connection with the earlier street fight, prosecutors said.
Grief counselors have been called to Kearny High School where Colon was a student.
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