Edison man charged for Millbrook Village stabbing

By Alvin Wu
Domestic Affairs
Edison man charged for Millbrook Village stabbing

The entrance to Millbrook Village on Hudson Drive. ZFJ/Zoe Wu

EDISON, N.J., July 26 (ZFJ) — Joan Franklin Polanco, 37, of Edison, has been charged in connection with the fatal stabbing that occurred in Edison on Sunday, July 21, 2024, announced Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone and Chief Thomas Bryan of the Edison Police Department.

On July 21, Edison police responded to a call for a welfare check of the victim, according to a criminal complaint and affidavit. Shortly after, at about 4:37 p.m., the police received a 911 call reporting a stabbing at Horizon Drive. The report said that the victim was unresponsive and bloody in the bedroom.

Police officers arrived and found the victim, Lizbeth Benitez-Rivera, 37, of Edison, deceased in the bedroom from apparent stab wounds. They also observed a bloody knife near the victim’s body.

Benitez-Rivera’s son told detectives that he had been sleeping in his room when he heard screams, but he went back to sleep. He woke up later that afternoon to check on his mother and observed her to be bloody and unresponsive with a knife near her body.

Polanco’s cousin told police that family members in the Dominican Republic said that Polanco had sent them “alarming messages,” according to the affidavit. The cousin also received a message from Polanco indicating that he killed Benitez-Rivera.

The preliminary law enforcement incident report indicates that Polanco exhibited suicidal behavior (such as excessive sadness or moodiness) or threatened self-injury during or at any time before the murder.

A view of Millbrook Village. ZFJ/Zoe Wu A view of Millbrook Village. ZFJ/Zoe Wu

Police obtained surveillance footage from inside the residence that showed Polanco going to the kitchen, grabbing a knife, and entering the bedroom. Screams are heard, and Polanco is then seen coming from the direction of the bedroom.

Hours later on the same day, Polanco was located and detained by the New York City Police Department. The victim’s vehicle was located nearby him.

Polanco has been charged with first-degree murder and third-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. He was known to the victim, but authorities have not disclosed the exact nature of their relationship.

The investigation is active and continuing, and anyone with information is asked to call Detective Clint Hetzell of the Edison Police Department at (732) 248-7400 or Detective Javier Morillo of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at (732) 745-8843.

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