Bergen Man Charged With Manslaughter In Woman's Death: Prosecutor

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — A Maywood man was arrested and charged in connection with the death of a woman who was found in a vehicle in Hackensack early Saturday morning, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella announced.

Michael Gaffney, 21, was charged with second-degree reckless manslaughter. Musella said.

Hackensack police received a 911 call at 2:14 a.m. about an "unresponsive" woman in a vehicle on Prospect Street, Musella said.

Related: Cops: Woman's Body Found Inside Hackensack Parking Garage

Responding officers and emergency medical personnel responded and treated Francis Victoria Garcia, 19, who was unresponsive; she was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center where she was pronounced dead, the prosecutor said.

Police contacted the prosecutor's office Major Crimes Unit and an investigation was launched. The investigation revealed that Garcia was in the back seat of her vehicle with Gaffney when she died, Musella said.

An autopsy determined that Garcia's cause of death was compression injuries to her neck, the prosecutor said.

Gaffney was remanded to the Bergen County Jail pending an appearance in Bergen County Central Judicial Processing Court.

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com