Brothers indicted over murder of 30-year-old Newark mom in 2018 – NorthJersey.com

A Newark man was indicted Thursday on charges he murdered his estranged ex-girlfriend and tried to dispose of her body with the help of his older brother.

Gualberto Lebron, 35, allegedly killed Julia Vega, 30, the mother of his children, in May 2018 while she went to walk her dogs during her lunch break at a local daycare center, said Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stephens in a press release. 

Prosecutors believe that Gualberto Lebron previously assaulted Vega on May 5, 2018, only four days before she was killed. The police were called but he fled before they arrived.

Gualberto Lebron, 35, of Newark, is accused of killing his ex-girlfriend and trying to hide her body in 2018.

After Gualberto Lebron killed Vega, his brother Gilberto Lebron, Jr., 36, helped him place her body in a sealed garbage bag filled with chemicals to help disintegrate it, Stephens said. The brothers are also believed to have used Vega’s minivan to take her body away.

Vega was reported missing the day she was killed and the prosecutor’s homicide/major crimes task force helped in the missing person’s search. She was found on June 1, 2018, in a “chemical slurry” at the back of an abandoned property in Irvington, Stephens said.

Gilberto Lebron, Jr., 36, of Newark, is accused of helping his brother dispose of his estranged ex-girlfriend's body in May 2018.

Gualberto Lebron was arrested by US Marshals and the Newark Fugitive Apprehension team following a manhunt and subsequent car chase a year later in May 2019.

A grand jury on Thursday indicted him on charges of murder, felony murder, sexual assault, desecration of human remains, burglary, robbery, stalking, aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children and hindering apprehension.

Gilberto Lebron was indicted for the desecration of human remains, hindering apprehension, destruction of evidence and illegal possession of weapons.

The pair are being held at the Essex County Correctional Facility and it is unknown when they will go to trial.

Kaitlyn Kanzler covers Essex County for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: kanzler@northjersey.com

Twitter: @KaitlynKanzler8