Prosecutor: New Jersey man stabs wife in front of children

A Perth Amboy man has been charged with stabbing his wife to death early Saturday morning, the Middlesex County District Attorney's Office said.

Wellinton Leonardo is charged with one count of first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree weapons offenses and one count of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child because the crime was committed in the presence of children, a press release said.

Authorities did not disclose whether the victims were the couple's children.

Police responded to a 911 call from a Bertrand Avenue residence at 2:57 a.m. Saturday and found Leonardo and a woman later identified as his wife lying on the kitchen floor, authorities said. The woman, Rosana Rodriguez, 40, appeared to have been stabbed.

Police rendered aid and took Rodriguez to Hackensack Meridian Health Raritan Bay Medical Center. She was pronounced dead at the hospital, prosecutors said.

Leonardo was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital for further treatment.

The police did not provide any further details. The investigation into the incident is ongoing.

Anyone with information or surveillance footage from the area is asked to call Detective Danny Hernandez of the Perth Amboy Police Department at 732-324-3805 or Detective Michelle Coppola of the Middlesex County District Attorney's Office at 732-745-3477.