27°
Claudia Hernandez, 25, pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and causing significant bodily injury to Ana Angelina Rojas-Jovel, who suffered a fatal heart attack last Nov. 10 when she tried to break up the fight between the two and suffered a heart attack.
Juan Francisco Martinez Rojas, 29, pleaded not guilty to child endangerment and lying to investigators.
Senior Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Danielle Grootenboer said she planned no plea offer “at this time.”
In addition to manslaughter and aggravated assault, Hernandez is charged with child neglect, destroying evidence of a crime, and lying to police.
Claudia Hernandez, Juan Francisco Martinez Rojas (MUGSHOTS: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY PRSOECUTOR)
The couple were “punching and scratching each other” after returning overnight to their first-floor Waldwick Avenue home from a party when Rojas-Jovel intervened, Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said hours after their arrests.
Hernandez Soriano assaulted the woman, sending her into cardiac arrest, then “concealed items of evidence [that] were later found during a search of the crime scene,” the prosecutor said at the time.
Waldwick police responding to their 911 call found the victim dead on a bedroom floor, he said.
Molinelli’s detectives interviewed witnesses, including the child.
An indictment returned by a grand jury in Hackensack earlier this year accuses Hernandez of hiding large clumps of Rojas’s hair from investigators.
Both were returned after the arraignment to the Bergen County Jail, where Hernandez was being held on $250,000 bail and Martinez $75,000.
Both also have ICE detainers for immigration violations that will likely lead to their deportation.
Claudia Hernandez, Juan Francisco Martinez Rojas (STORY / PHOTOS: CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter Mary K. Miraglia)
Click here to follow Daily Voice Northern Highlands and receive free news updates.
