New Brunswick man charged in a fatal stabbing on July 4th

NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY (WABC) -- A 32-year-old New Brunswick man has been charged in a fatal stabbing that happened on July 4th in a restaurant.

Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey and Anthony A. Caputo announced that Edgar Martinez is in custody on murder and other charges in the incident that left a city man dead during a dispute.

Martinez was charged with murder, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and unlawful possession of a weapon in the death of 20-year-old Jovanni Garcia-Elvira.

Martinez was apprehended while walking on Joyce Kilmer Avenue in New Brunswick, shortly after authorities say he stabbed the victim at El Costeno, a restaurant on Suydam Street.

He is being held at the Middlesex County Adult Corrections Center in North Brunswick in lieu of $2 million bail.

The investigation determined that the two men were involved in a dispute that ended when the victim was stabbed multiple times at 4:09 a.m.

He was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, where he was pronounced dead at 5 a.m. on July 4.

An autopsy performed by the Middlesex County Medical Examiner's Office determined the victim died from multiple stab wounds.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Detective Lemmerling of the New Brunswick Police Department at (732) 745-5200 or Detective Morris of the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office at (732) 745-4054.