TRENTON – A city man already behind bars for allegedly strangling his girlfriend was linked to this month’s killing of Luis Gonzalez, authorities said.
Michael Owens, 28, of Trenton, was charged with murder and weapons offenses after Mercer County prosecutors said he gunned down the 37-year-old Gonzalez on July 17 outside his home, apparently jealous after finding the victim’s cell number in his girlfriend’s phone.
Authorities hit Owens’ with the murder complaint at the Mercer County jail, where he has been locked up since July 24 on charges of aggravated assault and theft by unlawful taking.
In that incident, out of Hamilton, he’s accused of strangling his girlfriend, and then snatching the phone to prevent her from calling cops, prosecutors said.
Owens was paroled from state prison in June after serving time for forgery and resisting, state records show.
Prosecutors are seeking to detain Owens, who is set to appear in court next to answer to the domestic violence-related charges.
Detectives from the Mercer County Homicide Task Force tied Owens to Gonzalez’s murder, which happened around 9 p.m. July 17, on the 1000 block of South Broad Street.
Gonzalez, who became the city’s 21st homicide victim of the year, died at the hospital after being shot multiple times. Investigators said Gonzalez was shot outside of his home while he was on his cell phone.
Detectives learned that a mysterious cell phone number repeatedly called Gonzalez in the hour before he was killed and moments before the slaying.
Officers recovered .380 caliber shell casings at the scene of the shooting and tracked down surveillance that showed Gonzalez walking toward a vehicle second before he was shot.
The footage appeared to show a black Chevy Malibu, which was reported stolen from Hamilton.
Homicide detectives following up on the stolen vehicle learned it belonged the mother of Owens’ girlfriend, and also tied Owens to the domestic violence incident that happened the same day of the slaying.
Owens is accused of strangling his girlfriend while the couple argued after he found Gonzalez’s number in her phone, prosecutors said.
He left the home with his girlfriend’s phone so she couldn’t call police, prosecutors said, and also took the keys to the vehicle.
The Malibu had “distinctive features” that matched up with the vehicle linked to Gonzalez’s murder, prosecutors said.
The vehicle was captured on surveillance filling up on gas at the Roadrunner Gas Station on Brunswick Avenue about 25 minutes before the murder. Owens was the driver, authorities said.
