Mom, 2 kids killed after N.J. apartment owners didn’t change her locks, lawsuit says – NJ.com

The family of a mother and two kids slain in a murder suicide at a Salem County apartment complex last year claims in a lawsuit that the apartment operators could have prevented the killings by changing a door lock.

Eugenio Severino, 54, stabbed his estranged wife, Ruth Esther Reyes de Severino, 30, and their two kids, ages 5 and 2, to death in their Penns Grove Gardens apartment unit on Feb. 5, 2020, then hanged himself in a nearby wooded area, investigators determined.

Severino had threatened to kill his wife on several occasions in the month before the murders, according to the suit, and Reyes obtained a final restraining order Jan. 16, ousting him from the apartment they had shared.

Reyes had requested that the apartment operators change her door locks, since her husband had keys for the unit, the suit states, but that request was denied.

Days later, Severino used his keys to enter the apartment, “whereupon he proceeded to murder his wife and children …”

Representatives for the owners of the apartment, Penns Grove Apartments, LLC, and the apartment operator, Massachusetts-based Housing Management Resources, Inc., did not respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit.

The suit goes on to accuse the apartment operators of failing to abide by a Penns Grove ordinance created in response to another killing at the complex.

Following the 2019 shooting death of Tayshon Hayward, who died after trying to intervene in a dispute involving two other men, the borough required that all apartment complexes in the municipality install exterior security cameras and lighting to improve safety for residents.

The suit alleges negligence, negligent hiring, wrongful death and breach of contract.

“Women and their children should not have to fear for their lives — or lose them — because their landlords and the parties they contract with fail to keep those women and children safe,” one of the family’s lawyers, Samuel D. Jackson, said in a statement. “The defendants here didn’t bother to follow a law that was passed to address their own bad behavior, and the predictable result was an even worse tragedy. We hope this lawsuit sends shockwaves through the New Jersey landlord community and makes landlords realize the health and safety of their tenants should trump all other considerations —especially profits.”

In addition to compensatory and punitive damages, the family seeks recovery of the $1,207 security deposit Reyes paid for the unit.

Johnny Solano, a distant cousin of Severino and friend of Reyes who provided jobs for the couple at a local truck stop, said last year that Severino stayed with him for a short time after the restraining order was finalized. After that, he slept in his car and seemed to be in a downward spiral, Solano said, though no one thought he would act on his threats.

Reyes told him that Severino had tried to get her to drop the restraining order and that she had seen his car in the apartment complex. She didn’t call the police because she feared that would only make the situation worse, she told Solano.

She was afraid of her husband and came home from work each day and searched the apartment to make sure he wasn’t there, Solano added.

Solano is serving as administrator of the estates for Reyes and her kids on behalf of the woman’s parents, who live out of the country.

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Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com.