Crime & Safety
Man Found Guilty Of Strangling Girlfriend To Death In Union County
Bryan Gonzalez Martines, 23 of Plainfield, was found guilty of the fatal strangulation in 2020.
PLAINFIELD, NJ — A Plainfield man was found guilty in the strangulation death of his girlfriend in 2020, Union County Prosecutor William A. Daniel announced Wednesday.
Bryan Gonzalez Martines, 23 of Plainfield, was found guilty on July 11 of one count of first-degree murder following a month-long trial before Union County Superior Court Judge Thomas Isenhour.
The jury deliberated for less than a day before returning its verdict.
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On the morning of July 6, 2020, Plainfield Police were called to a home on the 700 block of Kensington Avenue — in order to conduct a requested welfare check — and found the body of 19-year-old Brenda Montoya-Cruz, according to Assistant Prosecutors Alaina Caliendo and Shivani Trivedi, who prosecuted the case.
Sentencing for this case has been scheduled for Sept. 29 before Judge Thomas Isenhour, at which time Martines can face a sentence of up to life in state prison.
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