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Michael Owens was charged with murder and several weapons charges on Thursday at Mercer County Correctional Institution where he has been held since July 24 on assault and theft charges,, Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo J. Onofri said.
Owens was jailed on earlier charges of assault and theft in connection with grabbing his girlfriend's neck and taking her phone on July 17 in Hamilton Township, Onofri said. Owens was released from state prison on parole on June 1, according to the New Jersey Department of Corrections.
Trenton police were called about 9 p.m. on July 17 on a complaint of shots fired. They found Luis X. Gonzalez, 37, of Trenton shot multiple times by .380 caliber bullets in the middle of the 1000 block of South Broad Street, Onofri said.
Gonzalez was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead a short time later, according to Onofri.
A review by police of the girlfriend's cell phone records found repeated calls made to Gonzalez in the hour leading up to and just before his murder, Onofri said.
An investigation by the Mercer County Homicide Task Force found that Owens had been on his phone as he left his home and met a man outside in a stolen black Chevy Malibu, Onofri said. it was later determined that the Malibu was owned by the mother of Owen's girlfriend, Onofri said. Surveillance camera video from outside the shooting scene showed the Malibu and Gonzalez walking to it, he said.
Homicide detectives discovered that there had been a domestic violence incident between Owens and his girlfriend the same day as the shooting, Onofri said.
Owens found Gonzalez’s number in his girlfriend’s cell phone and confronted her about it. The couple had an argument that became physical with Owens trying to choke the woman, Onofri said.
Owens fled, taking keys to the Malibu and the cell phone so the girlfriend could not call police, Onofri said.
Detectives also obtained surveillance video from the Roadrunner Gas Station on Brunswick Avenue from about 25 minutes before the fatal shooting, Onofri said. Owens was positively identified as the driver who got out of the Malibu to fill it with gas, Onofri said..
Owens is set to appear in court on Monday for a detention hearing on the Hamilton assault charges.
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