Vincent Battiloro has been indicted on first-degree murder charges more than a year after he allegedly stalked and killed two teenage girls in a deliberate hit-and-run.
Battiloro, now 18, of Garwood, New Jersey, was indicted by a grand jury Wednesday for the September 2025 murders of Cranford High School seniors Maria Niotis and Isabella Salas, according to court records. All three were 17 at the time of the killings.
The indictment follows a lengthy investigation and legal process that saw Battiloro initially arrested, released, and then rearrested days later while still a juvenile. He now faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted as an adult.
“This has been a long time, a long investigation, a waiver, and now the opportunity to present this and have people see it in open court, I think is important for the public and also for the families,” said Brent Bramnick, an attorney representing Niotis’ family, in a statement Wednesday to NJ101.5.
Bramnick and fellow attorney Cory Rothbort issued a joint statement on behalf of both victims’ families regarding the year-long wait for the grand jury action. “The families are hopeful that justice will be achieved and that a trial in open court will bring what happened to light,” they said.
“It’s still as difficult as it was from the beginning,” Bramnick added.
The attack unfolded in Cranford, a leafy suburb about 25 miles west of New York City, where Battiloro allegedly accelerated his black Jeep to 70 mph in a 25 mph zone and struck the girls from behind as they rode e-bikes. Court documents allege he spotted the pair, made a U-turn, and then floored the gas pedal before fleeing the scene on foot.
Niotis and her family had repeatedly accused Battiloro of stalking her in the months leading up to the killings, with the situation escalating to the point that school officials intervened. He was ordered to stop harassing her, and his alleged fury at being suspended for ignoring that demand became part of the motive prosecutors examined.
Battiloro initially claimed to investigators that he had been carjacked by a masked person armed with a knife, according to a complaint. However, dashcam video contradicted that account, showing him getting into his Jeep and driving toward one of the girls’ homes prior to the attack.
He was questioned on the day of the crash but released, then arrested two days later. During the intervening hours, he allegedly livestreamed a video in which he claimed there was “more to the story.”
Battiloro is the son of a former police officer, a detail that drew scrutiny after records showed he was released to his father’s custody hours after his initial detention.