December 25, 2022

TRENTON, NJ (MERCER)–A Philadelphia man was arrested on Christmas Eve for fatally shooting a man in Trenton, Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo J. Onofri reported.

Fausto Adalberto-Rodriguez, 45, is charged with murder, aggravated assault and weapons offenses. He was taken into custody shortly after the shooting in Trenton.  The prosecutor’s office will file a motion to detain Adalberto-Rodriguez trial.

The charges are the result of an investigation by the Mercer County Homicide Task Force and the Trenton Police Department.  At approximately 7:20 p.m. on Saturday, December 24, 2022, Trenton police responded to an apartment in the 200 block of Walnut Avenue on a report of a man shot.  Responding officers arrived on scene to discover the victim inside the second-floor apartment suffering a gunshot wound to the head.  The victim, identified as Junior Rodriguez, 40, was transported to the hospital and pronounced dead a short time later.

The investigation revealed Adalberto-Rodriguez showed up at the apartment on Walnut Avenue around 7 p.m. looking to speak to his ex-girlfriend.  He located her and the victim in the apartment and an altercation ensued.  Adalberto-Rodriguez hit the woman in the head with a handgun, then shot Rodriguez and fled the scene in his vehicle.  

Despite having been charged, every defendant is presumed innocent until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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Fausto Adalberto-Rodriguez, 45, is charged with murder, aggravated assault and weapons offenses. He was taken into custody shortly after the shooting in Trenton.  The prosecutor’s office will file a motion to detain Adalberto-Rodriguez trial.

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Names of the 2022 homicide victims in the City of Trenton:

1. 2/15/2022 Antwone Barnes, 37, of Trenton, Stabbing
2. 2/23/2022 Leonardo Fernandez, 32, of Trenton, Stabbing
3. 3/01/2022 Shimon Nesmith Jr., 19, of Trenton, Shooting
4. 3/03/2022 Helen Nelson, 73, of Trenton, Physical Assault
5. 3/15/2022 Albert L. Barnes, 46, of Trenton, Shooting
6. 3/25/2022 Sequoya Bacon-Jones, 9, of Trenton, Shooting
7. 3/31/2022 Tahaad Goss, 16, of Trenton, Shooting
8. 4/07/2022 Jaquir Queen, 26, of Willingboro, Shooting
9. 4/09/2022 Leroy Davis, 31, of Trenton, Shooting
10. 5/01/2022 Jamir McNeil, 25 of Trenton, Shooting
11. 5/22/2022 Ali Abdullah, 25, of Trenton, Shooting
12. 6/01/2022 Dreiby Osorio, 16, of Trenton, Stabbing
13. 9/02/2022 Rasheed Barlow, 35, of Trenton, Shooting
14. 9/11/2022 Chron Jenks, 34, of Ewing, Shooting
15. 9/20/2022 Keenan Anthony Trower, 31, of Hamilton Shooting
16. 10/09/2022 Daquan Brown, 33, of Trenton, Shooting
17. 10/10/2022 Daveigh Brooks, 25, of Ewing
18. 10/26/2022 Rayshawn Baines, 41, of Trenton
19. 11/10/2022 from 9/21/2022 Corrine Daniels, 41, of Park Avenue multiple blunt force injuries
20. 11/16/2022 Jomar Rodriguez, 29, of Trenton, Shooting
21. 11/17/2022 Nay’sean Byrd, 19, of Trenton
22. 12/24/2022 Junior Rodriguez, 40, Trenton, Shooting

** Under Investigation Pending determination:

23. ** Cause of fire under investigation by Mercer County Prosecutors Office Brian Wharton, 57, of Trenton

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File photo by: Brian McCarthy

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