Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office

                                 25 Kirkpatrick Street, 3rd Floor, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 08901 (732) 745-3300

 

                                *News Release*           Date: March 12, 2010

 
 

       

 

 

 

 

 

Highland Park man charged with fatal stabbing

 

 

Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce J. Kaplan and Highland Park Police Chief Stephen J. Rizco announced that as the result of a cooperative effort, police charged a borough man today with killing a woman, who died this morning after being stabbed in her apartment.

 

Frank Gonzalez (DOB 9/12/86) of 8 South Ninth Avenue, Highland Park, was charged with murder and burglary following the death of Brandy Williams, (DOB 5/4/81) of 60-B Woodbridge Avenue, Highland Park.

 

Ms. Williams, who was an acquaintance of the defendant, was pronounced dead at 7:42 a.m. today at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick.

 

The results of an autopsy showed she was the victim of a homicide and died from multiple stab wounds.

 

Following an intensive investigation, police traced Gonzalez to his home. As police approached his apartment, the defendant fled, jumping out a second-story rear window at about 3:30 p.m. He was apprehended nearby, in the backyard of a coin-operated laundry.

 

Gonzalez is expected to be held at the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center in North Brunswick. Bail has not yet been set. A hearing on the charges will be held on March 15, 2010, at the Middlesex County Courthouse in New Brunswick.

 

The investigation began when police were dispatched to Ms. Williams’ apartment after receiving a 911 call from a neighbor, who reported a disturbance at 5:42 a.m.

 

Police arrived to find the victim injured in her apartment. She was taken to the hospital, where she died.

 

The investigation by Lt. Joe Vassallo and Detective Ilan Lancry, both of the Highland Park Police Department, and Investigator Butch Villegas of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office determined that Ms. Williams was not the victim of a random attack.

 

The investigation is on-going. Anyone with information is asked to call Lt. Vassallo of Detective Lancry at (732) 572-3800, or Investigator Villegas at (732) 745-4428.