A 41-year-old Pennsylvania man has been arrested and is being held on $10 million cash-only bail in connection with the Thursday murder of 16-year-old Kearny girl Alishia Colon, the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office said this weekend.
Cruz Martinez Jr., of 348 West 14th St., Hazelton, Pa., was charged with murder late Saturday evening, Acting Hudson County Prosecutor Gaetano T. Gregory said.
On Saturday, Martinez was arrested in Pennsylvania by authorities there on an unrelated open warrant from Pennsylvania, the prosecutor’s office said. Later that same day, Martinez was charged by the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office with first-degree murder, unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of firearm for an unlawful purpose, the prosecutor’s office said.
Martinez is currently being held in a Pennsylvania jail, awaiting extradition proceedings, Gregory said.
The prosecutor’s homicide detectives, along with Kearny police, are actively continuing the investigation for other possible suspects.
Anyone with information on this incident is asked to contact the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office’s Homicide Unit at (201) 915-1345 or hcpotips@hcpo.org. All communications are kept confidential.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.