Arrest Made In Morris County Motel Shooting

MORRIS COUNTY, NJ — A nearly two-month-long investigation following a nighttime shooting at a Morris County motel has led to the arrest of a woman, police said on Tuesday.

Auraceli A. Maldonado, 24, of Irvington, was arrested and charged with armed robbery, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, aggravated assault and unlawful possession of a weapon.

According to police, on Oct. 18, at approximately 8:54 p.m., authorities were notified that a man had been shot while at the Roxbury Motel on Route 46 in Roxbury.

When police arrived, they found the victim with a gunshot wound to the leg and offered emergency medical care. The victim, whose identity has since been revealed as Selwyn Torres, was brought to a hospital with serious injuries.

The gunman fled the scene immediately after the shooting, police said.

A subsequent investigation revealed that Torres had arranged to meet with an unknown suspect at the motel. Surveillance video caught a Honda Accord with New York registration arriving in the motel parking lot on the day of the shooting, with a man and a woman leaving the vehicle.

Police believe these two people met with Torres and that the woman was armed with an AR-style rifle during the encounter. The two suspects allegedly robbed Torres, who was shot in the leg after a fight for the gun and then fled the scene.

Police were able to identify Maldonado as the registered owner of a Honda Accord, which was seen traveling through East Hanover shortly after the incident.

Maldonado was subsequently located and detained in Middleburg, Florida, on Nov. 2, 2023.

The male suspect has not been apprehended or charged at this time, police said.

Following her arrest, Maldonado was extradited to New Jersey and is currently being held at the Morris County Correctional Facility. A pre-indictment conference is scheduled for Jan. 9, 2024.

According to Xavier Martinez, the brother of Torres, he was ultimately shot in the knee, resulting in an injury that left him unable to walk or feel anything below the knee of his right leg.

Martinez said that Torres was taken to Morristown Medical Center, where physicians were able to stop the bleeding and even aid in restoring blood flow to the wounded leg by extracting a vein from his left leg and connecting it to his right.

"However, he was left with intense and excruciating pain and the inability to feel anything below the right knee, with a gaping hole that caused a fever because of a growing infection," his family posted on the GoFundMe page.

Due to the lasting and irreparable skin, nerve, muscle and bone damage, on Oct. 26, Torres had his right leg amputated.

Torre's family has since launched a GoFundMe page to help pay for his medical bills, rehabilitation, future prosthetic care and daily living expenses.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit at 973-285-6200 or the Roxbury Police Department at 973-448-2100, or anonymously through Morris County Crimestoppers at 973-COP-CALL or copcall.org.