A New Jersey man accused of murdering runner Carolina Cano, who was strangled in a park

April 1, 2019, 15:31 GMT / Update April 1, 2019, 16:09 GMT

By Minyvonne Burke

A New Jersey man was arrested in connection with the sexual assault and murder of a woman found dead in a lake last month, prosecutors said.

Jorge Rios faces charges of murder, kidnapping and aggravated assault for the death of Carolina Cano, 45 years old.

Cano's body was found shortly after 7:30 am on March 24 at a lake in Lincoln Park, Jersey City, New Jersey. The cause of her death was strangulation and drowning and she was tried as a homicide, the Hudson County District Attorney's Office announced in a press release.

His roommate told NBC New York that Cano had left their home in Jersey City around 5:30 am for jogging and never came back.

"She was like a family because I know her since she's a little girl," said the roommate, who was not identified.

Cano's family lives in Peru, according to the roommate. Cano came to the United States alone and worked as a nanny.

"She was an active woman, a good woman," said her roommate. "She did not bother anyone, she was a woman who was always with God, that's how she lived, she was really a beautiful woman, she had a very beautiful heart."

Rios, 33, was arrested on Sunday by the Hudson County District Attorney's Task Force on Homicide and is currently being held at the Hudson County Detention Center in Kearny, New Jersey.

At the same time, jurors from the Queens Borough in New York are expected to begin their deliberations on Monday in the new 22-year-old Chanel Lewis trial charged with the rape and murder of jogger Karina Vetrano in 2016.

Vetrano, 30, was found dead on August 2, 2016 near a running trail at Howard Beach. The first Lewis trial ended in November 2018.