JERSEY CITY MAN SENTENCED TO 30 YEARS IN NJ STATE PRISON FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT AND MURDER OF JERSEY CITY WOMAN CAROLINA CANO
Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez has released the following information:
On Thursday, March 4, 2021, the Honorable Patrick J. Arre, J.S.C. sentenced Jorge A. Rios, age 35, of Jersey City, to 30 years in New Jersey state prison for the murder and sexual assault of Carolina Cano which occurred on March 24, 2019 in Lincoln Park in Jersey City.
Judge Arre sentenced Rios to 30 years for the first-degree murder charge. The crime of murder carries a mandatory minimum of 30 years of parole ineligibility. Judge Arre also sentenced Rios to 10 years with a required 85 percent for the charge of aggravated sexual assault, which is to run concurrent to the 30 year sentence. Upon release, the defendant is subject to parole supervision for life and Megan’s Law.
Rios admitted to sexually assaulting and then strangling Cano in the early morning hours on that date in Lincoln Park and pled guilty to the charges in the case on February 3, 2020.
On March 24, 2019, shortly after 7:30 a.m., the Hudson County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a possible body found in Lincoln Park in Jersey City. Responding Hudson County Sheriff’s Officers found the body of Carolina Cano, age 45, of Jersey City, in the lake in Lincoln Park. Cano was pronounced dead at approximately 9:30 a.m. The Regional Medical Examiner’s Office determined the cause of death to be homicidal violence including strangulation and water submersion and the manner of death to be homicide.
On March 31, 2019, members of the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Task Force arrested and charged Rios for the murder of Carolina Cano.
On June 19, 2019, a Hudson County Grand Jury returned an Indictment against Rios charging him with four counts related to the death of Carolina Cano. The Indictment charged Rios with Murder, Felony Murder, Aggravated Sexual Assault and Kidnapping.
The State was represented in this case by Assistant Prosecutor Najma Rana of the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Unit.