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The 17-year-old suspect in an alleged hit-and-run murder was detained and questioned by law enforcement officers shortly after two teen girls were killed, but was released and not arrested until Wednesday, officials said.
Maria Niotis and Isabella Salas were killed on Monday while riding an electric bike when an unnamed 17-year-old male allegedly hit them both at around 5:26 p.m., according to the Union County Prosecutor’s Office.
The two girls, both 17, were pronounced dead after arriving at area hospitals.
The driver of the car, from Garwood, New Jersey, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Police said the suspect was driving a 2021 black Jeep Compass at the time of the crash.
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In a statement to Fox News Digital, Union County Prosecutor’s Office Public Information Officer Lauren Farinas said that the suspect was detained on Monday for questioning, but released.
“Shortly after the incident on Monday, Sept. 29, the suspect was detained and questioned by law enforcement officers. The suspect was subsequently released pending further investigation. Officers then arrested the suspect on Wednesday morning, Oct. 1, after complaints were approved for two counts of first-degree murder,” Farinas wrote.
The 17-year-old is currently in custody, she added.
In a statement provided to FOX 5, the families claim the suspect had been planning the alleged murders for months.
The families of the two girls said “a coward of a man, who had been plotting this attack against Maria for months, carried out this horrific act, taking not only her life but also Isabella’s.”
“He is not insane, he is competent and meditated,” they said. “It is now vital that the truth be shared: this was not an e-bike accident, and it was not a hit-and-run. This was murder in the first degree.”
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During a news conference on Thursday night, Niotis’ mother said that her loss has been “a silence that echoes louder than anything.”
“I will miss you every single day for the rest of my life,” she said.
One neighbor said the suspect was parked outside one of the girl’s homes for months and wasn’t stopped by school administrators or police.
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“He’s been parked outside her house for three months now. He was never stopped,” a neighbor said, FOX 5 reported.
“She made complaints and nothing was done,” family friend Tammy Carbajal told CBS. “It’s just a tragedy. It’s just a tragedy.”
While the suspect hasn’t been named, Westfield, New Jersey, Police Chief Christopher Battiloro wrote in a lengthy statement that he’s related to the individual accused of mowing down the two girls.
“While social media has made it known that the accused is related to me, he is not my son and not a member of my immediate family. I want to be clear, as loud and as firm as possible, that in NO WAY do my wife, children or I condone, defend or excuse the actions that caused this terrible and tragic loss of life,” Battiloro said. “As a result of this tragic incident, I lost a neighbor – a beautiful, charismatic young lady named Isabella Salas, who I have watched grow up since the day I moved to Cranford.”
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