Prosecutors say Joseph Quiros-Soto confessed in Georgia to killing Mauricio Cuadra during a New Jersey home invasion.
BAYONNE, NJ — A 62-year-old Georgia man has been charged in a 1989 Bayonne cold case after authorities said he walked into a police station and confessed to killing a man during a home invasion nearly 37 years ago.
Joseph Quiros-Soto, of Griffin, Georgia, is charged with murder and murder during the commission of a burglary in the death of Mauricio Cuadra, 48, of Bayonne. Prosecutors said the case moved forward after a 2024 confession in Locust Grove, Georgia, followed by interviews with Hudson County detectives and DNA testing tied to evidence kept from the original crime scene. Quiros-Soto remained detained in Georgia pending extradition to New Jersey.
The killing dates to Aug. 9, 1989, when Bayonne police were called to an apartment at 438 Avenue C for a report of a home invasion and shooting. Officers found Cuadra with a gunshot wound after an unknown man entered the residence, prosecutors said. Cuadra was pronounced dead a short time later. Hudson County Prosecutor Wayne Mello said investigators from his office, Bayonne police, Locust Grove police and the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office helped bring the case to the arrest stage. The case had gone unsolved for decades, even as physical evidence from the scene remained part of the file.
Authorities said the break in the case began Aug. 28, 2024, when Quiros-Soto went to the Locust Grove Police Department and said he wanted to confess to a 1989 murder in Hudson County. Police documents say he later told detectives he had become a born-again Christian and wanted to come forward after speaking with his pastor. Prosecutors said Quiros-Soto gave details that only the killer would know. Those details included the layout of the confrontation, the struggle inside the apartment and the shooting. He also gave investigators a DNA sample. Prosecutors said testing matched that sample to DNA recovered from a stain on Cuadra’s sweatpants from 1989.
Court documents cited in the case say Cuadra was inside the apartment with his girlfriend and her two daughters when the intruder entered in the early morning hours. Investigators said Cuadra tried to defend himself after the intruder’s gun malfunctioned. Cuadra grabbed a crowbar and struck the attacker, according to the complaint. The attacker then placed Cuadra in a headlock and shot him in the head, the complaint says. Cuadra was pronounced dead at 2:30 a.m. Authorities have not said publicly whether the women in the apartment were injured. The records released so far do not state a motive for the home invasion.
Quiros-Soto was arrested May 27 at his home in Griffin by the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office. The Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office announced the charges the next day. The murder count was filed under New Jersey’s statute for purposely or knowingly causing death or serious bodily injury resulting in death. The second count alleges the killing happened during the commission of a burglary. Prosecutors said he was being held in Georgia while New Jersey authorities pursued extradition. It was not immediately clear from public reports whether Quiros-Soto had entered a plea or had an attorney listed to speak on his behalf.
The case highlights the long reach of cold case files, where preserved evidence and later admissions can bring new charges years after a death. Cuadra’s killing remained open from the summer of 1989 until investigators linked the confession to the old evidence. The apartment on Avenue C became the center of the original investigation after Bayonne officers found Cuadra shot inside. For years, the person accused of entering the home was listed only as an unknown man. Prosecutors now allege that man was Quiros-Soto, who was living in Georgia when he went to police in 2024.
Local reports said the confession came after Quiros-Soto spoke with a pastor, a detail included in charging documents. Investigators treated the statement as a lead, not as the only evidence. The DNA comparison later became a key part of the case, according to prosecutors. The charge also required coordination across state lines, with Locust Grove police taking the first report, Hudson County detectives reviewing the 1989 homicide, and Spalding County deputies making the arrest in Georgia. Mello credited the agencies involved for their roles in the investigation and arrest.
Quiros-Soto remained in custody in Georgia as of Tuesday, June 2, while extradition to New Jersey was pending. The next major step is his transfer to Hudson County, where the criminal case is expected to proceed in court.
Author note: Last updated June 2, 2026.