FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Caitlin Mota
PHONE: (201) 577-6699
EMAIL: cmota@hcpo.org
DATE: Monday, September 11, 2023

MAN SENTENCED TO 24 YEARS IN STATE PRISON FOR 2021 HOMICIDE

Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez has released the following information:

On Friday, September 8, 2023, the Honorable Vincent J. Militello sentenced Joseph Palacios, 24, of Weehawken, to 24 years in New Jersey State Prison for the death of Michelle Paola Castillo Siguencia, 24, in Weehawken on June 19, 2021.

Palacios, of Weehawken, pleaded guilty to Aggravated Manslaughter in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:11-4a. The sentence is subject to the No Early Release Act. The State was represented at sentencing by Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Leo Hernandez.

On Saturday, June 19, 2021, at approximately 6 p.m., the Weehawken Police Department responded to a medical emergency at 561 Hudson Ave, apartment 1. Upon entry, officers discovered a female, later identified as Michelle Paola Castillo Siguencia, unresponsive in the bathroom. She was pronounced dead at 6:48 p.m. The Regional Medical Examiner’s Office determined the Cause of Death to be Stab Wounds to the Neck and the Manner of Death to be Homicide. Palacios was arrested a short time later at an apartment in Union City.