A body pulled from the Hudson River was identified Wednesday as a Hoboken murder victim, authorities said.
Julio Flores, 23, was fatally shot on Feb. 1 in the New Jersey city, the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office said in a press release.
The Passaic resident was not seen again until March 23, when someone spotted his body in the Hudson River and alerted Hoboken police. An autopsy determined the victim was killed with a gunshot wound to the head, and DNA tests confirmed it was Flores.
By the time Flores’ body was found, police had already charged his suspected killer. Erick Fernandez, 26, was charged on Feb. 6 and has been in custody for nearly two months.
According to police, Flores and Fernandez, a Lodi resident, traveled to a Hoboken skate park together on Feb. 1, where Fernandez lured Flores to a restricted area and killed him. Fernandez then took off with Flores’ keys and wallet, investigators said.
Later that night, Fernandez dumped the murder weapon in a storm drain, cops allege. It was later retrieved by investigators.
Authorities claim Fernandez returned to the murder scene the next day and disposed of Flores’ body into the Hudson River. Cops initially found a pool of blood at the scene but no body.
Fernandez was charged with first-degree murder, desecrating human remains and multiple weapons crimes.
