NORTH ARLINGTON, NJ – Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella announced the arrests of AARON MEDRANO (DOB: 3/23/94; single; unemployed) of 505 Schuyler Avenue, 2nd Floor, North Arlington, NJ on charges of murder, aggravated assault and child endangerment, and PATRICIA ARTESE (DOB: 7/28/96; single; unemployed) of 505 Schuyler Avenue, 2nd Floor, North Arlington, NJ on a charge of child endangerment. The arrest is the result of an investigation by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office under the direction of Chief Jason Love and the North Arlington Police Department under the direction of Chief Scott Hedenberg.
On Thursday, December 23, 2021 at approximately 6:26 pm, the North Arlington Police Department received a 9-1-1 call from a resident of 505 Schuyler Avenue in North Arlington. The caller reported that their two-month-old daughter was not breathing. The child was subsequently transported to Hackensack University Medical Center. The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit was contacted by the Division of Child Protection and Permanency regarding numerous injuries which were discovered on the child by medical personnel at HUMC.
An investigation by detectives from the North Arlington Police Department and the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office revealed that AARON MEDRANO caused the injuries to the child.
On Thursday, December 30, 2021, AARON MEDRANO was arrested and charged with second-degree aggravated assault, N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1b; and second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, N.J.S.A. 2C: 24-4(1). He was remanded to the Bergen County Jail and released.
PATRICIA ARTESE was arrested and charged with second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, N.J.S.A. 2C:24-4(1), and was released on a summons pending her first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack, NJ.
On Tuesday, January 5, 2022, the child died from her injuries. On Tuesday, January 11, 2022, AARON MEDRANO was arrested and charged with one count of first-degree murder, N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3a(1), and one count of first-degree murder, N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3a(2). He was remanded to the Bergen County Jail pending his first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack, NJ.
Prosecutor Musella states that the charges are merely accusations and that the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. He would like to thank the North Arlington Police Department for its assistance in this investigation.