New Jersey
Neighbors stunned as teen charged in fatal stabbing of N.J. mom in condo complex
A South Jersey mother who was fatally stabbed by her teenage son was described as quiet, kind, and as a dedicated caregiver.
Julissa Serrano, 49, worked as a home health aide for Journey Hospice and lived in the Meadowbrook Condos off Route 40 in Mays Landing.
Police said they responded to her home around 6:05 p.m. Saturday after a 911 call reported a juvenile with a knife.
Officers found Serrano with multiple stab wounds, and she later died at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center.
Neighbors said the normally quiet complex was suddenly filled with police activity.
Mehmet Cicekli, who lives two doors down, said he was at work when the killing happened. He learned what occurred after seeing television news vans outside.
“I’m really shocked,” said Cicekli, 24. “She was quiet, and she was nice.”
One neighbor, who asked not to be identified, said she believed she saw the teenager escorted from the apartment in handcuffs.
“We didn’t find out until the next day,” the neighbor said of Serrano’s death.
The circumstances surrounding the incident remain unclear, but The Atlantic City Prosecutor’s Office announced they charged Serrano’s 17-year-old son with murder, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a weapon.
He was taken to Harborfields Atlantic Youth Center pending his first court appearance.
Investigators have not said how he was identified as the suspect.
Serrano had worked for Journey Hospice for three years, regularly caring for patients facing death, said Denise Raymond, the company’s senior administrator.
“She was one of our home health aids,” Raymond told NJ Advance Media. “She was amazing — very loved by her coworkers, by her patients, by her patients’ families and we’re going to miss her.”
Serrano was named employee of the month at least once and earned positive feedback for her care, Raymond said.
“She was just a very positive, upbeat person to work with,” Raymond said. “You couldn’t be in a room with her without smiling.”
Journey Hospice is affiliated with Lutheran Social Ministries of New Jersey, a nonprofit organization under the Lutheran Christian Church that runs community outreach programs at 18 locations statewide.
The Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office declined to comment on the case Tuesday.
How to protect your NJ home from wind: Video
Here’s how to windproof your home to minimize damage, and what to do if a tree falls on your property as a result of the weather
A severe thunderstorm watch looms over North Jersey on the evening of June 12 after days of extreme heat.
Nation Weather Service New York declared a severe thunderstorm watch for numerous North Jersey counties including Bergen, Passaic, Hudson, Essex, Morris and Sussex among other Central Jersey and New York counties. The watch is in effect until 9 p.m., according to the NWS statement.
In an hourly forecast from The Weather Channel for Paramus, there is a 74% chance of thunderstorms at 7 p.m.
High temperatures reached past 90 degrees in many parts of North Jersey on June 11 and June 12 as a heat advisory also remains in effect until 8 p.m., said NWS New York.
“Dangerous heat is expected to continue across much of our region through today, with several record highs likely to be challenged again. High temperatures are forecast to peak into the low to mid 90s across most of the area,” the National Weather Service said Friday.
A Heat Advisory is in effect until 8 p.m. across the state except for Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and Salem counties.
PHILADELPHIA – Philip McPherson II, a 37-year-old from Riverside, New Jersey, was sentenced Thursday, June 11, to 78 months in prison for his role in a 2022 plane crash in Lehigh County that killed a student pilot, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Sentencing and charges for fatal Lehigh Valley crash
What we know:
United States District Judge John M. Gallagher sentenced McPherson to 78 months in prison, three years of supervised release, a $5,000 fine, a $4,300 special assessment, and $19,530 in restitution. Judge Gallagher also barred McPherson from working in the aviation industry.
McPherson pleaded guilty in October to involuntary manslaughter, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, obstruction of an administrative proceeding, and 40 counts of serving as an airman without a certificate.
The backstory:
Court filings show that on September 28, 2022, McPherson took off from Queen City Airport in Allentown as the pilot-in-command with student pilot K.K. and crashed shortly after, resulting in K.K.’s death.
Prosecutors said McPherson acted with gross negligence, knowing he was not competent to fly as pilot-in-command. He had two prior crashes, nearly a third, and failed a reexamination for his pilot’s certificate in September 2021.
McPherson voluntarily surrendered his pilot’s certificate in October 2021 and let his Temporary Airman Certificate expire in November 2021, acknowledging his inability to meet FAA standards.
He admitted to flying with passengers without a valid FAA pilot’s certificate between October 12, 2021, and September 20, 2022.
Investigators from the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, FAA, and Salisbury Township Police Department worked on the case, which was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert Schopf and Special Assistant United States Attorney Marie Miller.
What we don’t know:
Authorities have not released further details about the circumstances leading up to the crash.
The Source: Information from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
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