A Union County grand jury has returned an indictment against an Elizabeth resident accused of killing his girlfriend in her home on Easter Sunday, then fleeing the state, acting Union County Prosecutor Grace H. Park announced Monday.
Arturo Alomas, 33, is charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of 26-year-old Trenice Johnson.
Police responding to the Mravlag Manor housing complex in Elizabeth at approximately 6 p.m. on Sunday, March 27, 2016 found Johnson dead in her apartment, according to Union County Assistant Prosecutor Albert Cernadas, Jr., who is prosecuting the case.
An autopsy conducted the next day by the Union County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that the cause of Johnson’s death was a combination of strangulation and asphyxiation, with the manner of death determined to be homicide, Cernadas said.
A joint investigation involving the Prosecutor’s Office’s Homicide Task Force, the Elizabeth Police Department, the Union County Sheriff’s Office Identification Unit, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, and the Rowan County (North Carolina) Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigation Division resulted in Alomas being identified as a suspect in the case.
He was arrested later on the day of the homicide and charged with multiple offenses after allegedly attempting to elude police in North Carolina following an attempted traffic stop.
Alomas is currently lodged in Union County Jail, with bail set at $1 million by state Superior Court Judge Joseph P. Donohue.
Convictions on first-degree murder charges are commonly punishable by 30 years to life in state prison.