Crime & Safety

2 More People Charged With North Plainfield Fatal Stabbing

Nelson Salomon Aquilar-Lopez, 20 and Gicsy Baleria Galindo-Acosta, 22, of Plainfield were arrested while trying to flee to Mexico: Police.

NORTH PLAINFIELD, NJ — Two more people from Union County were charged in connection with the fatal stabbing of Nelson Noe Garcia-Lopez, 24, of North Plainfield, Somerset County Prosecutor Michael H. Robertson announced.

Nelson Salomon Aquilar-Lopez, 20 and Gicsy Baleria Galindo-Acosta, 22, both of West Front Street, Plainfield were arrested on Wednesday at around 3:45 p.m. in Texas, near the Louisiana border, while trying to escape to Mexico, Robertson said.

Aguilar-Lopez was arrested on charges of first-degree murder and third-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. Gicsy Galindo-Acosta was arrested on charges of third-degree hindering apprehension.

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Aguilar-Lopez and Galindo-Acosta are both pending extradition proceedings back to New Jersey.

Three others were also arrested in connection with the fatal stabbing on Aug. 19 in North Plainfield.

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The fatal stabbing occurred on Sunday, Aug. 19 at around 2:12 a.m. when Garcia-Lopez was walking alone on West Front Street when he passed a group of about 15 people. Some of the people began to chase Garcia-Lopez as he ran down Grove Street into North Plainfield, according to the report.

An investigation found that Oscar Ivan Baquendo-Martinez, 23, West 4th Street, Plainfield; Patricio M. Piruch-Nekta, 25, Clinton Place, Plainfield; and Cesar A. Carcamo-Ortega, 25, East 2nd Street, Plainfield were involved in the assault and death of Garcia-Lopez, Robertson said.

A 911 call reported the fight around 2:18 a.m. and when police arrived they found Garcia-Lopez suffering from stab wounds. He was transported to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead, Robertson said.

The post mortem examination found that Garcia-Lopez had been stabbed multiple times throughout his body and the manner of death was deemed a homicide, according to the report.

Garcia-Lopez was the intended target of the assault and authorities have not released a motive to maintain the integrity of the investigation, according to the report.

On Wednesday, Aug. 22, Baquendo-Martinez and Carcamo-Ortega were found in Plainfield and were arrested. Piruch-Nekta surrendered to authorities at the North Plainfield Police Department on Aug, 29 at around 6 p.m.

Anyone with information relating to this homicide is asked to contact the Somerset County Prosecutors Office
Major Crimes Unit at 908-231-7100, or the North Plainfield Police Department at 908-769-2937 or via the STOPit app. The STOPit app allows citizens to provide anonymous reports including videos and photos. STOPit can be downloaded to your smart phone for free at the Google Play Store or Apple App Store, access code: SOMERSETNJ.

Information can also be provided through the Somerset County Crime Stoppers’ Tip Line at 1-888-577-TIPS (8477) or online at www.888577tips.org or at www.scpo.net and click on either “Crime Stoppers” or “TIPS HOTLINE”. All anonymous Crime Stopper tips will be kept confidential. Crime Stoppers of Somerset County, Inc. is offering a reward up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the individual(s) responsible for the death of Nelson Noe Garcia-Lopez.

(Image via Somerset County Prosecutor's Office: Nelson Salomon Aquilar-Lopez, 20 and Gicsy Baleria Galindo-Acosta, 22, both of West Front Street, Plainfield)

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