A central New Jersey man was arrested for fatally stabbing his wife in front of children early Saturday morning, authorities said.
Police responded to a 911 call at a residence on Bertrand Ave. in Perth Amboy just before 3 a.m., according to Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone.
When police arrived at the home, they found a man and a woman lying on the kitchen floor.
The man, later identified as Wellington Leonardo, was found with undisclosed injuries and taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital for treatment, police said.
The woman, identified as Rosana Rodriguez, 40, was rushed to Raritan Bay Medical Center with apparent knife wounds and was later pronounced dead.
Investigators determined the two men were married, adding that the incident was not a random act of violence.
Leonardo was arrested and charged with one count of first-degree murder, two weapons offenses and one count of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child because the alleged stabbing occurred in the presence of children, NJ.com reported.
Authorities have not said what the children’s relationship is to the couple.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Detective Danny Hernandez of the Perth Amboy Police Department at (732) 324-3805 or Detective Michelle Coppola of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at (732) 745-3477.
Perth Amboy, a city of about 55,000 in northeastern Middlesex County, is located about 30 miles south of Lower Manhattan.
