A West New York man has pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter in relation to a November 2019 homicide at an apartment building on 63rd Street.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
Yesterday, Edwin Orlando Velasco-Salazar, 24, of West New York, pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree aggravated manslaughter related to the death of Irma Doris Contreras, which occurred on November 1st, 2019, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said in a statement.
Velasco-Salazar appeared before the Hudson County Superior Court Judge Vincent J. Militell and admitted to recklessly causing Contreras’ death while exhibiting an extreme indifference to human life.
The state will be recommending a sentence of 20 years in New Jersey state prison subject to the No Early Release Act. Sentencing in this case has been scheduled for January 3rd, 2022.
On November 1st, 2019, at approximately 3:41 a.m., members of the West New York Police Department responded to the entry vestibule of 214 63rd St. in response to a report of an unconscious woman.
When officers arrived at that location, they found Contreras, 32, in the doorway with no pulse. Contreras was transported to Hackensack Meridian Health Palisades Medical Center where she was pronounced dead at 4:20 a.m.
The Regional Medical Examiner’s Office determined the Cause of death to be compression of neck and the manner of death to be homicide.
The investigation by the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Unit and West New York Police Department revealed Velasco-Salazar and Contreras walking into the vestibule of 214 63rd Street and then Velasco-Salazar walking out alone.
Contreras was found in the vestibule several minutes later by three pedestrians. Velasco-Salazar was subsequently arrested and charged by members of the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Unit.
The state is represented in this case by Assistant Prosecutor Barbara Drasheff of the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office.
