Union County officials said Myrlande Dornelus, 41, a home health aide, was arrested on Friday and charged with fatally stabbing one of her patients, 62-year-old Anna M. Pollard, in Elizabeth last month, acting Union County Prosecutor Lyndsay V. Ruotolo and Elizabeth Police Department Director Earl Graves and Deputy Chief Giacomo Sacca jointly announced Monday.
The arrest is the result of an investigation that began on Monday, April 13, when Elizabeth Police Department patrol units found Pollard in her home on the 200 block of Front Street.
According to Union County Homicide Task Force Supervisor and Assistant Prosecutor Scott Peterson, who is prosecuting the case, Pollard had sustained multiple serious stabbing injuries, which resulted in her death.
The investigation, which was led by the Homicide Task Force and assisted by members of the Union County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Unit, Union County Police Department, and the Elizabeth Police Department, identified Dornelus as a suspect in the case.
She was arrested without incident and has been charged with first-degree murder and two related weapons offenses.
Following her arrest, Dornelus was transported to the Union County Jail pending a first appearance and detention hearing to take place in Superior Court.
Convictions on criminal charges of this nature are commonly punishable by terms of up to life in state prison.
These criminal charges are mere accusations. Every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.