Man Found Guilty Of Fatal Stabbing At Union County Nightclub

ELIZABETH, NJ — An Elizabeth man was found guilty on all charges for stabbing a man to death in a nightclub parking lot in 2016, acting Union County Prosecutor Michael A. Monahan announced Friday.

Rosendo Salomon Gomez-Serpas, 25, was convicted of murder and two related weapons offenses following a three-week trial before Superior Court Judge John M. Deitch and jury deliberations that took place over the course of two days, Monahan said.

Sometime before 4 a.m. on April 9, 2016, an argument broke out between Gomez-Serpas and the victim Mario Ortiz, 30, of Elizabeth inside the Imperial Latino Lounge on the 600 block of New Point Road, Monahan said. The argument continued out into the parking lot, according to an investigation involving the Prosecutor’s Office’s Homicide Task Force and High Tech Unit, Elizabeth Police and the Union County Sheriff’s Office’s Crime Scene Unit.

Gomez-Serpas then produced a knife and stabbed Ortiz five times, including three defensive wounds to his hand, as well as a final strike to his chest that proved fatal.

Ortiz's body was found at the scene where he was pronounced dead, according to Union County Assistant Prosecutor Peter Benza, who prosecuted the case.

Gomez-Serpas fled the scene in a vehicle, but was found and arrested about 10 hours later at an apartment on the 500 block of Marshall Street in Elizabeth, according to the report.

Most of the fight, including the fatal stabbing, was captured on a nearby surveillance video, and the footage was played during the trial.

Ortiz’s blood was also recovered from the hat Gomez-Serpas was wearing when he was arrested, as well as from parts of the inside of his vehicle, according to the report.

Gomez-Serpas faces a term of 30 years to life in state prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 23.

(Image via Union County Prosecutor's Office: Rosendo Salomon Gomez-Serpas, 25, of Elizabeth)

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