HUDSON COUNTY, NJ — A Georgia man has confessed to fatally shooting a Bayonne resident during a home invasion in 1989, prosecutors said on Thursday.
Joseph Quiros-Soto, 62, was arrested Wednesday at his home in Griffin, Ga., and charged with murder, said a spokesperson for the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office.
The man confessed to police after consulting with his pastor, according to a court document obtained by Patch.
Prosecutors said that on Aug. 9, 1989, Bayonne police were notified of a home invasion and shooting in an apartment at 438 Avenue C.
Police found Mauricio Cuadra, 48, unresponsive. He had been shot by an unknown man who'd entered the house, officials said.
He was pronounced dead a short time after the shooting, prosecutors said.
For more than 35 years, his killer remained free.
But in August of 2024, the Locust Grove Police Department in Georgia contacted Hudson County prosecutors to say that Quiros-Soto had come to their department and confessed to a murder he'd committed in Hudson County in 1989.
Detectives from Hudson County later interviewed Qurios-Soto, who waived his Miranda rights, according to documents from the Prosecutor's Office.
"Defendant explained that he is a born-again Christian and wanted to confess after consulting with his pastor," says a complaint filed in the case.
Quiros-Soto gave details to police that would only be known by the killer, the complaint says, including breaking into the apartment and shooting the victim in the head after a struggle.
The victim's girlfriend was home at the time of the fatal shooting, as were her two children, the complaint says.
Quiros-Soto also provided a DNA sample. Testing resulted in a match to a stain sample on the victim's sweatpants, the complaint says.
According to the complaint, Quiros-Soto had broken into the apartment in the early morning hours. Cuadra and his girlfriend were home, along with the girlfriend's two daughters.
Quiros-Soto tried to shoot Cuadra, but the gun malfunctioned, the complaint says. Cuadra then grabbed a crowbar to defend himself and struck Quiros-Soto, the complaint says.
Qurios-Soto placed the victim in a headlock and shot him in the head.
Cuadra was pronounced dead at 2:30 a.m. that morning.
On Wednesday, Quiros-Soto was arrested by the Spalding County (Georgia) Sheriff’s Office, prosecutors said. He's now awaiting extradition to New Jersey.
Besides murder, he's been charged with murder during the commission of a burglary, Hudson County prosecutors said.
Hudson County Prosecutor Wayne Mello credited the Homicide Unit, the Locust Grove Police Department in Georgia,
and the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office with the investigation and arrest, a spokeswoman said.
The Prosecutor's Office did not respond to additional questions about the investigation, but Patch will update this story if more information is available.
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