A Dundalk man accused of killing another man and dumping his body in New Jersey’s Hackensack River nearly two years ago received a postponement in his criminal case on Oct. 21.
Pablo David Agosto Acevedo, 41, is charged with first-degree murder, five firearm violations, and one count of altering physical evidence in the murder of Pedie Edwards II, 39. Surveillance footage from the Ellwood Park neighborhood, where the incident occurred, captured Acevedo allegedly appearing to shoot Edwards, who was sitting in the driver’s seat of an Infiniti SUV.
Although the case was scheduled for trial today before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Martin Schreiber, the proceeding was listed on Maryland Judiciary as being cancelled/vacated. Baltimore Witness was not able to verify why the case was postponed.
According to court documents, the pair had arrived together on the 600 block of N. Decker Avenue. Vivint home security footage captured Acevedo allegedly exiting the passenger seat, walking away, and then walking back to the car before allegedly shooting Edwards. He then opened the driver’s side door and dragged Edwards’ body into the vehicle’s rear.
A 911 caller later advised police they heard four or five gunshots ring out, and a witness told investigators they saw muzzle flashes go off in the vehicle. The location was canvassed, but no bullets were recovered. Officers were able to locate the Infiniti.
Three .40-caliber shell casings and suspected blood were recovered from the interior of the vehicle, which also appeared to have been burned by Acevedo in an attempt to destroy evidence. The vehicle itself was found to be stolen on the 1900 block of Willow Spring Road in Dundalk.
Another witness confessed they burned Acevedo’s clothes at the defendant’s request. Ashes were recovered from the burn site.
Edwards’ body was recovered with the aid of search dogs, just outside New York City and over a month after the incident on Dec. 9, 2023. Fingerprints were used to identify him. An autopsy was conducted at the Essex County Medical Examiner’s Office, where his cause of death was determined to be a homicide.
Officers tracked Acevedo’s 2023 gray Nissan Altima to New York City’s John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport, where it was found parked in the terminal 8 parking lot with its front and back license plates removed. Edwards’ body had been dumped along a direct route from the incident location to JFK Airport.
Acevedo flew out of JFK Airport the day after the incident, on Nov. 2, 2023, fleeing to the Dominican Republic and then Puerto Rico.
His case is now set to proceed to trial before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Lynn Stewart Mays on Jan. 30, 2026.
