A man from North Brunswick has pleaded guilty to killing a 38-year-old woman from New Brunswick.
Christian Cortes, 25, of North Brunswick, pleaded guilty on April 9 to first-degree aggravated manslaughter, admitting he shot Desiree Alvarado in New Brunswick on July 14, 2017. The victim died four days later at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital from complications due to the gunshot wound to her neck, according to information provided by Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey.
In a plea agreement reached with Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Arabelys Santos and Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Scott Lamountain, Cortes will be sentenced to 16 years in a New Jersey state prison. This term is subject to the No Early Release Act. As such, the defendant will have to serve 85 percent of his prison term before becoming eligible for parole, according to the statement.
Cortes was charged following an investigation by Detective Erica DiMarcello of the New Brunswick Police Department and Detective Craig Marchak of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office
The investigation determined that around 10:30 a.m. on July 14, 2017, Cortes shot Alvarado, while she was sitting in a car, on Seventh Street between Livingston and Joyce Kilmer avenues in New Brunswick. She was pronounced dead at 5:20 p.m. on July 18, 2017.
Cortes is scheduled to be sentenced in New Brunswick by Superior Court Judge Joseph Rea on May 22.
