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A ten year old investigation into the Christmas Eve murder of an Asbury Park man is gaining renewed focus, according to a news statement by the Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni.  

Cesar Torralba [at right], 35, of Sixth Avenue was returning from Super Extra grocery store on Memorial Drive when his wife Minerva heard voices outside their second floor apartment door near 12:40 p.m. Dec 24, 2007.

When Minerva Torralba looked out the peephole, officials said, she saw a black male pointing a small black handgun at her husband and demanding money. As she turned away from the door to locate her cellphone to call 911, Torralba heard a gunshot.

“She frantically ran to the door and out of the apartment to find her husband lying on the hallway floor – unconscious and bleeding,” a Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office spokesman said.  “Mrs. Torralba grabbed her husband’s phone off the floor and began knocking on a neighbor’s door.  When the neighbor answered the door she took the phone and dialed 911.”

Asbury Park Police and emergency medical personnel responded. Cesar Torralba, a father of two, was transported to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune where he was pronounced dead at 1:40 p.m.

On Saturday, Gramiccioni urged anyone with information pertaining to the case contact his office or the Asbury Park Police Department.

“Cesar Torralba’s widow and his two, now-teenage daughters, deserve answers and they deserve justice,” Gramiccioni said. “Ten years later we simply cannot forget the reality and facts of the case:  Here’s a man who left his two young children and his wife to go buy groceries for Christmas Eve dinner. Then, just prior to reuniting with them, he was senselessly gunned down with only his front door separating him from his family. On behalf of his loved ones, we urge anyone with information to please reach out to police.”

Officials said they have received ‘significant assistance’ from community members and groups, including the Guardian Angels, who brought forth a strong presence, passed out flyers and encouraged residents to come forward.

“In spite of a significant effort [we have] been unable to identify the person responsible for the callous killing of Cesar Torralba,” the department’s spokesman said.  

In the written statement, Minerva Torralba made a pea for the public’s help.

“Please do not let your fear get in the way of justice for the person who killed my husband,” she said. “Not a day goes by that my daughters and I do not think about my husband and their father. It’s hard to explain how just how hard it has been for my daughters to grow up not having a father to guide, love and cherish them. While many days are difficult, things like father-daughter dances are unbearable. It’s just not fair to them. They have grown up waiting for the person responsible to be arrested. Cesar, their father and my husband, was a great man who worked hard every day to provide for us. I plead with anyone who knows anything to contact police so my children do not have to wait any longer for justice.”

Anyone with information regarding the murder of Cesar Torralba can contact Detective Jose Cruz of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office at 800-533-7443 or Detective Gabriel Carrasquillo of the Asbury Park Police Department at 732-774-1300.

To make anonymous tips contact the Monmouth County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-671-4400, text “MONMOUTH” and the tip to 274637 or email the tip via monmouthcountycrimestoppers.com. Monmouth County Crime Stoppers will pay up to $5,000 for information leading to an arrest or conviction, officials said.

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