UPDATE: Dad left apology video before killing 9-year-old by setting car on fire, N.J. authorities say
A 9-year-old boy was found dead in a burning car outside Sayreville’s high school on Thursday night and his father has been charged with igniting the blaze following a domestic dispute with the child’s mother, officials said.
Manuel Rivera took the boy following a dispute at the couple’s home on Eisenhower Drive in Sayreville, the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office said.
Rivera, 43, then drove to Sayreville War Memorial High School and shortly before 10:45 p.m. set the vehicle on fire near the back of the building, authorities said. When police arrived, Rivera was next to the burning vehicle he had doused with gasoline, authorities said.
River had burns to his body and a self-inflicted wound, the prosecutor’s office said. His son was found in the car.
Rivera is charged with aggravated arson with additional charges pending the boy’s autopsy. He is being treated for his injuries at an area hospital.
The 9-year-old was a student at Woodrow Wilson Elementary School, Sayreville Superintendent Richard Labbe said. Rivera was hired by the school district in January as a part-time cafeteria worker and driver, according to a board of education meeting agenda.
Mayor Kennedy O’Brien expressed his condolences in a statement.
“On this Good Friday, Sayreville is waking up to learn of a horrific incident that occurred overnight that shakes our community to its core... Any time such senseless violence involves one of our children, it gravely affects all of Sayreville.
“I want to assure you the community is safe, as the Sayreville police department and the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office have launched a detailed investigation this morning. On behalf of a shocked and saddened community, I want to say that Sayreville stands in solidarity with the child and the family and friends who are enduring this inconceivable ordeal.”
Anyone with information or surveillance footage of the area is asked to call Sayreville police Detective Michael Pirigyi at 732-727-4444 or Detective Jose Rosario of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at 732-745-3289.
Stories by Jeff Goldman
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Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com