Union County man strangled and killed his girlfriend, cops say.

A New Jersey man has been charged with fatally strangling his live-in girlfriend.

Union County prosecutors said that 40-year-old Ignacio Ortiz was charged Saturday with killing 27-year-old Yury Cruz.

It wasn't immediately known if Ortiz had a lawyer to comment on the charges.

He was in Union County Jail on $1 million bail.

Police responded to the home where the couple lived around 2:30 a.m. Saturday. Cruz was unresponsive when they arrived and she was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later.

An autopsy will be performed this week.

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