Teenager Charged in Murder of Mercer County Man: Police

A 15-year-old boy has been arrested and charged in the murder of 27-year-old Carlos Leiva-Oviedo, Acting Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo J. Onofri said on Friday.

The teenager was arrested by members of the Mercer County Homicide Task Force at a relative’s house in Newark on Thursday night.

He is charged with murder, felony murder, robbery, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a weapon.

He is being held at the Middlesex County Youth Detention Center.

Trenton police officers found Leiva-Ovieda collapsed near his car on Hudson Street suffering from multiple stab wounds while responding to Hudson and Genesee streets on a report of a man bleeding at about 3 a.m. on June 14.

Leiva-Oviedo was taken to Capital Health Regional Medical Center where he succumbed to his injuries.
The charges are a result of an investigation by Detective Roberto Reyes and the Mercer County Homicide Task Force.

The arrest came after media circulated a video and photographs, and members of the public were able to identify the accused, Onofri said.

“This is a case that would not have been solved without all of the pieces: methodical, perseverant police work, help from the media, and the public doing their part by contacting the authorities with information,” Onofri said. “When we work together, justice is served.”

Onofri also thanked the Mercer County Narcotics Task Force, the Newark Police Department and the Essex County Homicide Task Force for their assistance with the arrest.

The attached image was previously provided by the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office