Lodi Man Charged In Fatal Shooting Of Passaic Man On The Hoboken Waterfront 

Friday, February 7, 2025, 2:15 P.M. ET. 3 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

HOBOKEN, NJ.- On Thursday, following an investigation, a 26-year-old Lodi, New Jersey, man was charged in connection with the shooting death of a 23-year-old Passaic, New Jersey, man that occurred at an area along the Hoboken, New Jersey, waterfront on Saturday, February 1, 2025.

     According to Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez, on Sunday, February 1, 2025, members of the Lodi Police Department contacted the Hoboken Police Department and the Hudson County Homicide Unit after receiving multiple tips that a man had been fatally shot on Saturday in a restricted area of the Hoboken waterfront near Castle Point Skate Park.

During A Four-Day Investigation, Detectives Determine Fernandez Killed Mr. Flores

     Following an extensive four-day multi-agency investigation, Detectives of the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Unit determined that Erick Fernandez, 26, of Lodi, New Jersey, fatally shot Julio Flores, 23, of Passaic, New Jersey, near the Castle Point Skate Park. Following the shooting, Fernandez fled with Mr. Flores’ personal belongings, including Flores’s vehicle, and later returned to the scene and disposed of Mr. Flores’ body in the Hudson River.

     Multiple law enforcement agencies have been conducting searches of the river in the area in an effort to locate Mr. Flores’ body. The Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office has reported that the searches have yet to find Mr. Flores’ remains.

     Based on the investigation, an arrest warrant for Fernandez was issued on Thursday, February 6, 2025. Fernandez, who was in custody at the Garfield Police Department on an unrelated matter, was taken into custody by Detectives of the Hudson County Homicide Unit at the Garfield Police Department and formally charged.

     Fernandez was charged with first-degree Murder; first-degree Felony Murder; first-degree Robbery; second-degree Unlawful Possession of a Weapon; second-degree Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose; second-degree Disturbing and or Desecrating Human Remains; third-degree Hindering; and third-degree Certain Persons Not to Possess Weapons.

     Fernandez was processed on the charges and remains detained at the Hudson County Correctional Facility, pending future court proceedings in Hudson County Superior Court in Jersey City, New Jersey.

     The case remains active and ongoing and is being investigated by the Hudson County Homicide Unit with assistance from the Hoboken Police Department, the Lodi Police Department, the Hawthorne Police Department, the Garfield Police Department, the New Jersey State Police, the Stevens Institute of Technology Police Department, and the New York City Police Department.

     Anyone with additional information regarding this investigation is urged to contact the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office at (201) 915-1345. All calls will be kept confidential.