Paterson dual homicide victims identified, car linked to ex-‘Housewives’ starlet
PATERSON — Authorities Monday identified the two boys found in a searing car reportedly wielded by a cast member of “Real Housewives of Fresh Jersey.”
The Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office announced Monday that the victims were Aaron Anderson, 27, and Antonio Vega Jr., 25, both of Paterson. Their deaths were ruled a homicide, according to a release from the prosecutor’s office.
“It’s brutal,” Debora Hernandez, the mother of Vega’s 5-year-old daughter Tianna, said. “It’s a nightmare.”
City firefighters responding to a car fire on East 28th Street around two a.m. Friday discovered two figures inwards the vehicle. The fire bruised the bods so badly that firefighters could not originally identify the victims.
The car, an Audi S Line, was registered to Kim DePaola, who has appeared regularly on the “Real Housewives of Fresh Jersey,” according to various media outlets.
DePaola, without specifically referencing Friday’s incident in an Instagram post collective on Sunday, appeared to confirm the reports — which were very first published by TMZ.com — that it was her Audi that was involved in the dual homicide.
“I am humbled by the outpour of love and support during this very difficult time,” she wrote. “My son and I are both safe. Our deepest condolences go out to the victims’ families of this truly horrific tragedy.”
A post collective by Kim DePaola (@kimdposche) on Mar Nineteen, two thousand seventeen at 12:18pm PDT
Anderson’s mother told News twelve Fresh Jersey that the Audi was lent to her son by DePaola’s son after driving him to the airport.
Vega’s family, speaking from their 1st Ward home, were still reeling from the news Monday night.
“He was a very good father,” Vega’s grandmother, Emilia Duran, 72, said. Fighting back tears as she spoke, she said, “He had a nice personality. He took the garbage for me. He said ‘Grandma, you don’t have to do it.’ “
Vega’s father, Antonio Vega Sr., said his son from time to time worked carpentry jobs with him. The youthfull father, who was expecting another daughter with his gf, considered becoming an electrician, his father said.
The elder Vega, 47, surmised Monday that whoever killed Anderson and his son were out for vengeance.
“His friend had problems with some other guys,” the elder Vega said. “It was a vendetta and they dreamed the boy. My son just happened to be there.”
Authorities did not suggest any possible motive for the murders Monday. The investigation is continuing.
On Monday evening, Hernandez and Tianna visited a makeshift memorial that had sprung up at the site where Vega’s and Anderson’s figures were found.
Hernandez, 22, placed rose petals and photographs of Vega among the candles that someone had arranged in a heart and cross.
“They were good kids,” Hernandez said of the two guys. “They had good families.”
Little Tianna laid crimson flowers on the street.
“Bye, Daddy,” she said.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office at 877-370-PCPO or [email protected].
Paterson Press Editor Joe Malinconico contributed to this report.
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