A New Jersey man accused of killing his young son and setting the boy’s body on fire in the school parking lot sent a disturbing video to his wife before attempting suicide, according to reports.
Manuel Rivera, 43, admitted to the crime and is said to have apologized to his wife in a video message shortly before committing the heinous act. He then told her he would meet her in the afterlife and asked that her body be cremated, according to police documents. Retrieved from News 12.
Rivera also left a suicide note at home with a similar message.
“This is how it ends for me, [their son]. We know that we cannot live without each other. “Today is the day when death separates us,” the note read. According to the patch.
According to documents, the couple had been having marital problems before the incident.
The family reported Rivera and her son missing to Sayreville police on March 28 after the father threatened to kill them and fled the home after an argument.
Police responded to the call and received a report of a fire at Sayreville High School around 10:45 p.m.
There, officers found Rivera’s car on fire in the school parking lot, with her son’s body inside.
Rivera was also at the scene, with cuts around his neck and burns on his body, and was sitting outside his car covered in gasoline.
Surveillance camera footage showed Rivera pulling into the parking lot, dousing the car with gasoline and setting it on fire.
The boy is believed to have died before the arson.
Rivera was hospitalized in critical condition.
He is charged with first-degree murder, second-degree desecration of a corpse, aggravated arson and endangering the welfare of a child.
The boy was identified as Christian Rivera. According to MyCentralNewJersey.comwas a third-year student at Woodrow Wilson School.
A vigil was held for him at the school Saturday night.
