Newark New Jersey police are looking into a possible homicide after a badly decomposing body was discovered behind a local home.

A person found the body lying behind a house on Wainwright Street in Newark, NJ. The Newark Police Department was subsequently notified and dispatched cops to the scene.

According to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, the case is being given special consideration and investigated by detectives as a possible homicide. Katherine Carter, a spokesperson for the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, said that the case is a “special investigation.”

Authorities are not providing the media with a great deal of information about the investigation. At this time, law enforcement is still waiting for the results from an autopsy by Essex County NJ medical examiners.

If authorities eventually determine that the victim died as a result of foul play, it is possible that charges for first degree murder would follow. As set forth by N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3, murder is the most serious criminal offense in the New Jersey Criminal Code. A conviction on first degree murder charges could lead to life imprisonment.

For further information about this case, access the NJ.com article, “Badly Decomposed Body Found in Newark.”