ELIZABETH, NJ — An Elizabeth resident is accused of killing his girlfriend in her home on Easter Sunday, acting Union County Prosecutor Grace H. Park announced.
Arturo Alomas, 33, is charged with a single count of first-degree murder in connection with the death of 26-year-old Trenice Johnson.
Police responded to the Mravlag Manor housing complex in Elizabeth at approximately 6 p.m. on Sunday, March 27 to find Johnson dead in her apartment. An autopsy conducted the next day by the Union County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that the cause of Johnson’s death was a combination of strangulation and asphyxiation, with the manner of death determined to be homicide.
A joint investigation that grew to involve the Prosecutor’s Office’s Homicide Task Force, the Elizabeth Police Department, the Union County Sheriff’s Office Identification Unit, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, and the Rowan County, North Carolina Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division resulted in Alomas being identified as a suspect in the case.
Bail for Alomas was set at $1 million by state Superior Court Judge Joseph P. Donohue. Alomas remains in custody awaiting extradition in North Carolina, where he was arrested on the evening of March 27 and charged with multiple offenses after allegedly attempting to elude police there following an attempted traffic stop.
Anyone with information about Johnson’s death is still being urged to contact Homicide Task Force Sgt. Johnny Ho at 908-403-8271 or Detective Dan Joy at 908-337-0832.
Convictions on first-degree murder charges are commonly punishable by 30 years to life in state prison.
These criminal charges are mere accusations. Each defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.