A father who has been charged with murdering his son allegedly left a haunting note before setting his vehicle on fire.
On March 28, concerned family members called Sayreville police to report Manuel Rivera, 43, and nine-year-old Christian Rivera missing after the father allegedly threatened to kill himself and his son following a dispute, as reported by News 12.
As authorities responded to that call, they received reports of a fire near Sayreville War Memorial High School around 10:45PM. Once they arrived, they discovered Manuel's car burning in the school parking lot with the body of his son inside, per The New York Post.
It has also been reported that cops found the man with burns and a laceration to his throat. In addition to this, surveillance footage allegedly showed him pulling into the parking lot, and then dousing the vehicle with gasoline before setting it aflame.
Christian was pronounced dead at the scene, but his cause of death is pending an autopsy.
Prosecutors have charged his father with aggravated arson, murder, endangering the welfare of a child, and desecration of human remains, per CBS News.
According to police documents obtained by News 12, the suspect allegedly owned up to the heinous crime and apologized to his wife in a video sent just before he carried out the murder. He also reportedly told her they’d see each other in the afterlife and asked for his remains to be cremated.
Manuel also reportedly left a chilling handwritten letter at home with a similar message, which read: "This is how it ends for me and [their son]. I know we couldn’t live without each other. Today is the day that death does us part," as cited by Patch.
The Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office revealed that he is currently hospitalized at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and has not been processed through the system to face that first-degree murder charge yet.
Christian was a student at Woodrow Wilson Elementary School in Sayreville, NJ. com reported. He was also a member of the Sayreville Bombers youth football team, which held a candlelight vigil Saturday (March 30) night on the Junior Bombers football field.
Mayor Kennedy O'Brien released an emotional statement saying the community is safe and "stands in solidarity" with the child and his loved ones.
"On this Good Friday, Sayreville is waking up to learn of a horrific incident that occurred overnight that shakes our community to its core: the loss of a nine-year-old child, allegedly at the hands of a parent. Any time such senseless violence involves one of our children, it gravely affects all of Sayreville," O'Brien wrote.
Neighbors were also left stunned by the heartbreaking news. Leonardo DaSilva, who lives around the corner from the family, said that his son went to elementary school with Christian.
"I had to tell my kids, which was not the best time, to make him try to understand. So he's kind of upset inside," said DaSilva. "He was a very happy kid, always running around."
"Super sad. I have my own 8-year-old and he's the same way. So just looking at my kid, and I imagine he's here, I mean that hurts. So I feel for the family. I really do," he added.
Our thoughts are with Christian's loved ones at this devastating time.
