A West New York man has been sentenced to 20 years in state prison for the death of woman in 2019, according to Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez.
On Tuesday, March 1, Hudson County Superior Court Judge Vincent Militello sentenced Edwin Orlando Velasco-Salazar, age 24, to 20 years in New Jersey State Prison for causing the death of Irma Doris Contreras in West New York on November 1, 2019.
Velasco-Salazar, of West New York, pleaded guilty to first-degree Aggravated Manslaughter on Oct. 25, 2021. His sentence is subject to the No Early Release Act.
On November 1, 2019, at approximately 3:41 a.m., members of the West New York Police Department responded to the entry vestibule of 214 63rd Street in response to a report of an unconscious female. When officers arrived at that location, they found Contreras, 32, in the doorway with no pulse.
Contreras was transported to Hackensack Meridian Health Palisades Medical Center where she was pronounced dead at 4:20 a.m. The Regional Medical Examiner’s Office determined the cause of death to be compression of neck and the manner of death to be homicide.
The investigation by the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Unit and West New York Police Department determined Velasco-Salazar and Contreras entered the vestibule of 214 63rd Street together and then Velasco-Salazar walked out alone. Contreras was found in the doorway several minutes later by three pedestrians.
Velasco-Salazar was subsequently arrested and charged by members of the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Unit. The state was represented in this case by Assistant Prosecutor Barbara Drasheff of the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office.
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