Homeless Man’s Killing Ends In Jail Sentence For Morris Co. Man

MORRIS COUNTY, NJ — A Morris County man has been sentenced to prison in connection with the death of a 47-year-old man who was found dead on the railroad tracks near West Clinton Street in Dover early this summer.

Morris County Prosecutor Robert J. Carroll announced that Wilfredo Cabrera-Masariegos, 34, has been sentenced to five years in state prison after pleading guilty to second-degree manslaughter.

Cabrera-Masariegos will have to complete 85 percent of his sentence before being eligible for parole, according to Judge Ralph E. Amirata.

Dover police said that they responded to the scene on July 26 and located a dead man, who was later identified as Rene Rivera Hernandez, a homeless individual who frequented the Dover area.

The Morris County Medical Examiner's Office determined that Rivera Hernandez died as a result of a blunt force injury to the head, and the cause of death was ruled a homicide.

According to authorities, further investigation confirmed that Cabrera-Masariegos and Rivera Hernandez were on the railroad tracks under a highway bridge in the late evening hours of July 25, when Cabrera-Masariegos hit Rivera Hernandez in the head with a rock and fled the scene.

The motive behind the attack has not been made clear by the police.

Cabrera-Masariegos has been detained at the Morris County Correctional Facility since his apprehension, Carroll said.