By: Richard L. Smith
A heartbreaking chapter in a month-long investigation has come to a close as authorities have confirmed that human remains recovered from the Hudson River last month belong to 23-year-old Julio Flores of Passaic, a young man whose life was violently taken and whose body was left to the currents.
According to a statement released by the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, what began as a missing persons case evolved into a homicide investigation that now leaves a grieving family in mourning and a community shocked by the cruel end of a young life.
On the afternoon of Sunday, March 23, 2025, around 2:15 p.m., Hoboken Police and members of the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Unit were called to the area near Pier C Park after reports came in about a body found in the Hudson River.
First responders arrived to find the remains of an adult male. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
For days, the victim remained unidentified as forensic experts with the Regional Medical Examiner’s Office worked tirelessly to determine his identity.
On Wednesday, April 2, 2025, the Hudson County DNA Laboratory provided a match. The victim was confirmed to be Julio Flores. The cause of death was determined to be a gunshot wound to the head. The manner of death: homicide.
Julio’s death wasn’t just sudden—it was brutal. According to investigators, the violence occurred weeks earlier, on Saturday, February 1, 2025. That day, Flores was reportedly lured to a secluded part of the Hoboken waterfront near Castle Point Skate Park.
The following day, tips began to reach Lodi Police, leading them to alert Hoboken authorities.
Over the next four days, detectives from the Homicide Unit, along with local and state law enforcement agencies, pieced together the events that led to Flores’ killing.
Their investigation concluded that Erick Fernandez, 26, of Lodi, was responsible for fatally shooting Julio during a confrontation at the waterfront.
After the shooting, Fernandez allegedly took Flores’ belongings, including his vehicle, and returned to the scene later to discard the young man’s body in the river.
An arrest warrant was issued for Fernandez on February 6, 2025.
He was already in custody on unrelated charges at the time and has since remained behind bars at the Hudson County Correctional Facility.
Fernandez now faces a litany of serious charges, including murder, felony murder, desecration of human remains, robbery, and multiple weapons offenses.
His actions have not only led to his own downfall but have also left an irreplaceable void in the lives of those who knew and loved Julio Flores.
Prosecutor Esther Suarez extended gratitude to the many law enforcement agencies involved in the investigation, including departments from Hoboken, Lodi, Garfield, Hawthorne, the New Jersey State Police, NYPD, and even the Stevens Institute of Technology Police Department. 
Their combined efforts ultimately brought clarity and justice to a case that began in uncertainty and ended in sorrow.
Julio Flores’ family now moves forward with the painful reality that their loved one is gone, remembered not for how he died—but for the life he lived, and the future that was stolen from him.