By The newspaper
Mar 29, 2024, 1:56 PM EDT
A 9-year-old Latino boy died in a burning car behind a New Jersey high school and his father, a school employee, faces arson charges.
Manuel Rivera’s (43) car was found burned behind a school in Sayreville and investigators believe he set it on fire himself after a domestic dispute, he said. CBSNews.
Sayreville School Superintendent Dr. Richard Labbe confirmed that the boy attended Woodrow Wilson Elementary School and that his father, a Sayreville Public Schools employee, is the driver of the burned vehicle, he noted. News 12.
Authorities with the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office and the Sayreville Police Department said Rivera survived the fire and was being treated for his injuries at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. He was originally charged with aggravated arson, but prosecutors said additional charges are pending from the county medical examiner’s autopsy report.
Police responded to a 911 call around 10:45 p.m. Thursday about a fire near Sayreville War Memorial High School. There was also a call about a related domestic dispute from a home on Eisenhower Drive, where a woman told officers that Rivera had left the home with her child. The identity of the victim has not been revealed.
On this Good Friday, Sayreville wakes up to learn of a horrific incident that shakes our community to its core: the loss of a child allegedly at the hands of a parent.”
Sayreville Mayor Kennedy O’Brien issued a statement Friday saying the community “stands in solidarity” with the boy and his loved ones.
“On this Good Friday, Sayreville wakes up to learn of a horrific incident that occurred overnight that shakes our community to its core: the loss of a nine-year-old boy, allegedly at the hands of a parent. “Any time such senseless violence involves one of our children, it severely affects all of Sayreville,” the mayor said.
All charges are mere accusations and those charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
Domestic violence is common in New York City and surrounding areas, between relatives, roommates and partners, even with minor victims. Every day in NYC, an average of 747 incidents of domestic violence – including assaults, abuse, verbal abuse – and about 65 homicides are reported annually.
In early March, a man was arrested on suspicion of killing his mother in their home in New Jersey. In January, a Hispanic woman killed her daughters and her husband and then took her own life inside her home in Union (NJ) after receiving an eviction order, authorities reported.
If you are a victim or suspect that someone is being abused, especially if it is a minor or elderly:
I looked for help
- Call 911, 988 or (800)-942-6906.
- Text “WELL” to 65173.
- Review information at https://nycwell.cityofnewyork.us/es/ and www.988lineadevida.org