Homeowner intransigence in New Jersey killed a woman and two children

A New Jersey woman "pleaded" with the administration of her apartment complex to change the locks on her apartment door after she received a protective order against her husband, reports NBC New York.

The complex could not fulfill her request. After that, the woman and her two children were killed in this apartment by her husband. The victim's family filed a lawsuit against lessor.

Ruth Esther Reyes de Severino and her children, Eurianni, 5, and Euri, 2, were killed on February 5, 2020. Police found the bodies in the family's apartment in Penns Grove Gardens after Reyes de Severino's husband, Eugenio Severino, was found dead in a nearby park.

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A lawsuit filed by relatives of the murdered woman claims that Eugenio Severino committed suicide after killing his family. The lawsuit was filed last month in the Salem County Supreme Court. The document says that the death of the woman and the children was caused by "illegal actions, negligence and breach of contract by the landlord."

“Ruth Reyes de Severino asked, no, she begged, the defendant, the landlord of Penns Grove Apartments LLC, to change the locks on her apartment door so that her husband could not enter. But no one did this, ”the lawsuit says.

The apartment complex and its operator did not respond to a request for comment.

Anyone who has experienced domestic violence can get help, advice or information by calling the national domestic violence hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or by visiting the website thehotline.org.