LINDEN A man accused of killing a woman on New Year s Eve in his city apartment maintains his innocence, saying that he woke up on his couch to find his friend s naked and bruised body on the kitchen floor.
Edward Sokowski was arrested and charged with murder in the strangulation death of 62-year-old Kim Lewandowski. He had called 911 about 8 p.m. on Dec. 31 and said his friend was hurt.
Responding officers said they found an unconscious Lewandowski with fresh cuts on her face, bruises on her head, neck and torso and dried blood on her body, according to a criminal complaint filed in Superior Court in Union County.
After dispute, Elizabeth cop re-indicted on insurance fraud charges
Updated Jan 13, 2021;
A Superior Court judge on Tuesday ruled that a motion to dismiss an Elizabeth cop’s insurance fraud indictment was moot since the prosecutor on the case sought a new indictment from a grand jury after the judge called the prosecution’s work on the first one “sloppy.”
Alana Velazquez, who became a police officer in 2010, was charged in 2017 with insurance fraud, theft by deception, and three counts of uttering a forged document. Her criminal charges came about a year after she filed suit against the Elizabeth Police Department claiming racial discrimination.
arrow Melvin Herrera-Interiano with his partner, Geyde Zapata, and two of their children, William, 12, and Valeria, 5. HANDOUT
Weeks after their father was deported to Honduras in March, Geyde Zapata’s three kids experienced another dramatic change in their lives: their schools in New Jersey shut down.
For 12-year-old William and 5-year-old Valerie, who both have autism, it was overwhelming to be stuck at home without their dad. William stopped showing interest in his remote classes and started getting upset with his mom, acting defensive and crying out for his father.
“My son would hug me and ask, ‘Where is my dad? Why hasn’t he come back?” Zapata, 35, said in Spanish. “It’s been extremely difficult.”
22-year-old woman was murdered, cops say
Updated Jan 06, 2021;
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The death of a 22-year-old woman in Elizabeth on Tuesday is being investigated as a homicide, authorities said.
Shaquin Ingram was found in an apartment on the 10 block of Jacques Street around 1 a.m, the Union County Prosecutor’s Office said Wednesday.
Police were called to the apartment to do a welfare check. Ingram had serious injuries and was pronounced dead.
The investigation is ongoing and no arrests have been made.
A prosecutor’s office spokesman didn’t immediately have additional information about how she was killed or who else lived in the apartment.
Suspicious Christmas Eve death under investigation in N.J. city
Updated Dec 29, 2020;
A suspicious death that occurred on Christmas Eve in Plainfield is still under investigation this week, officials said.
Plainfield police officers responded to the 800 block of West Front Street in the city shortly after 10 a.m. on Dec. 24 after someone called to report that they found human remains in the area, according to a joint release from the Union County Prosecutor’s Office and the Plainfield Police Department.
Police discovered the remains and an investigation was launched, the office said.
The remains had not been identified as of 5 p.m. Tuesday, police said. No other information, including the age or gender of the victim, or the cause of death, was released.