On the evening of December 19, 2018, 23-year-old Lexander Torres was found on a Paterson sidewalk at the intersection of East 18th Street and 16th Avenue after suffering a fatal gunshot wound. Medical personnel pronounced him dead at the scene; the shooting occurred at approximately 7:15 p.m.

A 24-year-old man, Eric Polanco of Paterson, was also shot and treated at St. Joseph’s University Medical Center for non-life-threatening injuries and later released. The Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office and the Paterson Police Detective Bureau opened a joint investigation, and the homicide was counted as Paterson’s 11th of the year.