Press Release 11/9/18

PERTH AMBOY – Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey and Chief Roman McKeon of the Perth Amboy Police Department announce that a man was arrested and charged today in the fatal stabbing of a city woman who was killed last night in Perth Amboy.

Benny M. Pichardo Santos Arias, 25, of Perth Amboy, has been charged    with murder in the first degree, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose in the third degree, and hindering his own apprehension in the third degree in the fatal stabbing of a 20-year-old woman who was six months pregnant.

On November 8, 2018, at approximately 9:09 pm the Perth Amboy Police responded to the intersection of Sayre and Steadman Avenue and found a 20-year-old woman with multiple stab wounds.

The victim, Esmeralda Cedeno, was transported to Raritan Bay Medical Center in Perth Amboy where she was pronounced dead from her injuries, the baby also did not survive. Autopsies on both are pending with the Middlesex County Medical Examiner’s Office.

The incident is being investigated by Detective Frank Cristiano of the Perth Amboy Police Department and Detective Erik Larsen of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.

The defendant is being held at the Middlesex County Correction Center in North Brunswick pending a Detention Hearing.

The investigation is active and is continuing. Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Cristiano at (732) 324-3800, or Detective Larsen at (732) 745-3263.