Woman Stabbed To Death Sunday In Edison: Prosecutor

EDISON, NJ — A man is accused of stabbing a woman to death in her apartment Sunday, while her 16-year-old son slept in the room next door, announced Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone.

The woman who was stabbed to death is Lizbeth Benitez-Rivera, 37, who lived on Horizon Drive in Edison.

The man is Joan Franklin Polanco, 37, also of Edison. Polanco is charged with first-degree murder and a weapons offense.

The man and woman knew each other, but the prosecutor declined to say whether or not it was a romantic relationship.

At approximately 4:37 p.m. Sunday, Edison Police received a 911 call reporting a stabbing on Horizon Drive. Upon arrival, officers discovered Benitez-Rivera with multiple stab wounds, and she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police say the 16-year-old boy was asleep in his room and when he woke up later in the afternoon he found his mother deceased with multiple stab wounds. Police say Polanco was seen entering the bedroom with a knife and leaving the residence shortly after the incident occurred.

Polanco was located hours later Sunday night in New York City, where he was stopped by NYPD, detained and charged with her murder.

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.