Following the discovery of a female body off of Route 440 in Bayonne this week, the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office has announced the arrest of a man from Jersey City and charged him with the crime.
Prosecutor Esther Suarez says that on Friday, May 19, 2023, members of Office’s Homicide Unit charged 35-year-old, Gregory Mallard in connection with the death of Norelis Mendoza, who was found deceased in Bayonne on Wednesday, May 17, 2023. Mallard is charged with murder, a crime of the first degree; unlawful possession of a weapon (a vehicle), a crime of the fourth degree; possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose (the vehicle), a crime of the third degree; failing to dispose of human remains in a manner prescribed by law, a crime of the third degree; desecration of human remains, a crime of the second degree; hindering, a crime of the third degree; and tampering with physical evidence, a crime of the fourth degree.
Mallard is currently being held in Somerset County. Prosecutor Suarez says the matter is being investigated as an act of domestic violence.
The case scenario is as follows according to Prosecutor Suarez:
“On Sunday, May 14, 2023, the Jersey City Police Department received a missing person report for a 32-year-old Lindenwold woman who was last seen in Jersey City on Saturday, May 13, 2023. During the course of the investigation, the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Unit – with assistance from the Jersey City Police Department, Bayonne Police Department, and New Jersey State Police – located the lifeless body of a female, later identified as Norelis Mendoza, 32, of Lindenwold, off of Route 440 near the Jersey City border on Wednesday, May 17, 2023. She was pronounced dead at the scene.”
This remains an active investigation and no additional information will be released at this time.
Prosecutor Suarez credited the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Unit, Jersey City Police Department, New Jersey State Police, Bayonne Police Department, and multiple state and local law enforcement agencies with the investigation and arrest.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Office of the Hudson County Prosecutor at 201-915-1345 or to leave an anonymous tip at: https://www.hudsoncountyprosecutorsofficenj.org/homicide-tip/.
All information will be kept confidential. The above charges are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
