On September 30 at 5:30 p.m two best friends were hit on their bikes near Burnside and Lincoln avenue in Cranford New Jersey. The 17-year old victims were on the way home from a school function on their e-bikes. Eye Witness Abc News says,”They were struck by a black 2021 Jeep Compass.”
The suspect is a 17-year old from Garwood NJ and is being charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Vincent Battiloro was escorted out of his house in Garwood by at least half a dozen officers. This tragedy was believed to be a terrible freak accident. As police started to investigate more they found out it was much more than an accident.
The suspect is related to Westfield Police Department Chief Christopher Battiloro, who lives in the same neighborhood as the teens who were killed. The suspect was allegedly stalking the two teenage girls and released a chilling video a day before his arrest. Due to the video the victims’ families claim he had been planning this sick attack “for months.”
The victims’ families claim this was not an e-bike accident hit and run, this was premeditated murder in the first degree. A friend of the teenage girls told the Washington Post,” How can you sit in front of someone’s house for three months? He was out there in front of her house, in the same car, his car, for three months,” the distraught pal said. “I saw it! Tell me. How is he able to do that?”
The friends claimed that the victim by the name of Maria, had an ex-boyfriend that is believed to be Battiloro. They were going through serious issues and when their relationship had ended, Battiloro had sent a very threatening message to Maria’s new boyfriend. Prosecutors have yet to officially name Battiloro, but was outed as the alleged killer through a series of traffic summonses from the Monday crash obtained by NJ.com. The alleged killer’s uncle, Westfield Police Chief Christopher Battiloro, condemned his own nephew in a social media post this week as he attempted to distance himself from the ugly situation. He then released a long statement on behalf of himself and his family.
The two girls are now remembered as two loving children who had their whole lives ahead of them. Maria was born in Rhodes Greece, and then moved to the Garden State her obituary stated. She attended Crawford High School and worked at a Cake Artist Cafe. Isabella attended the same school as they were best friends. Her family described her as an extremely talented girl with the voice of an angel. She was in the choir, many clubs, and an a capella group. Both victims were two beautiful young girls whose lives ended after innocently heading home after a school function. Both victims’ families were too distraught to speak for days as they still are suffering with this deep loss. Battiloro, meanwhile, attempted to paint himself as the real victim during his 22-minute YouTube video — where he was barraged with comments about his alleged involvement in the crash. He suddenly acknowledged it would be best if he kept quiet and didn’t speak on anything involving the crash anymore.