Body In New Brunswick Basement Identified; 2nd Murder In A Week

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — A 36-year old New Brunswick man has been identified as the person whose body was found in the basement of an abandoned home in the city this past Friday, April 5.

Lucas Reyes-Cardona was identified by the New Brunswick Police Department and the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office as the dead man.The Middlesex County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the death a homicide caused by blunt force trauma to the head.

The investigation began when the victim’s body was discovered in an abandoned residence on Welton Street at approximately 9:59 a.m. on April 5.

This is the second homicide in one week for the city of New Brunswick.

As Patch reported earlier, 61-year-old man was beaten to death Saturday night, March 30 after an argument broke out on a New Brunswick street corner, the Middlesex County prosecutor said.

Two younger men, in their 20s and 30s, are in custody and charged with his murder.

Police say that at approximately 10:15 p.m. Saturday, March 30, on the corner of George and Paterson streets, a verbal argument broke out between the two suspects and the victim, Robert Reilly, 61. It turned into a physical altercation and the two men assaulted the victim, causing serious injury that resulted in his death, police said.

Reilly was taken to a local hospital for serious injuries, but he died at the hospital, said Rutgers police, who helped with the investigation even though nobody involved is affiliated with Rutgers.
The first suspect, James Lyles, 32, was previously arrested on March 31. The second suspect, Joshua Robinson, 28, was captured early yesterday morning, April 4, at a hotel in South Plainfield by members of the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office, the New Brunswick police department and the South Plainfield police department.

All the men, the two suspects and the victim, are from New Brunswick. No weapons were used in the incident.

Both Robinson and Lyles are charged with first-degree murder and aggravated assault in the second degree for causing the death of Reilly. They are being held at the Middlesex County Adult Corrections Center.