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.