Four people killed in an apparent murder-suicide in Bayonne may have met their end due to a domestic violence situation, the prosecutor said Tuesday morning.
Police responded to the site just shortly after 8 p.m. on Monday night due to a report of gunshots.
“We’re limited in what we can say because the matter was taken over by the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office,” said Bayonne Public Safety Director Jason O’Donnell.
Hudson County Prosecutor Ed DeFazio said Adepso Collado allegedly shot and killed his estranged wife, Kenia Collado. Also killed were Kenia Collado’s apparent boyfriend and the boyfriend’s 1.5-year-old child. Collado then fatally shot himself in the head.
DeFazio said the shootings took place about 7:30 p.m.
“It appears to be a context of domestic violence.” – Ed DeFazio
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The officers arriving on the scene Monday night found that woman outside the house at 96 Avenue A, who indicated that there were possibly more victims inside.
The infant was rushed to Bayonne Medical Center, but did not survive.
“It is clear the victims died of gunshot wounds,” DeFazio said. “It appears to be a context of domestic violence.”
The police said about 15 to 20 shots were fired.
DeFazio said that two other children who where physically unharmed were removed from the scene.
“The gun used was a .45 caliber semi automatic pistol and it was recovered at the scene,” DeFazio said.
The autopsy on the victims was scheduled to take place on Tuesday at the State Regional Medical Examiner’s office in Newark.
DeFazio said investigators went through the crime scene overnight, recovering evidence.
“We will be doing follow-up interviews,” he said. “Unfortunately, an incident like this can’t be rationalized. It was a completely irrational act, and right-thinking people can’t make sense of this type of wanton violence.”
Neighborhood usually peaceful
Ronald Priezio, who lives across the street from the homicide site, said he heard the commotion and then the gun shots. When he came out, he saw the woman outside the house, although “I didn’t realize she was wounded at the time.”
Priezio said he went inside to call the police, but police cars arrived when he was still on the phone.
“This isn’t the kind of thing that happens in this neighborhood,” he said.
While some of the residences have a transient population, he said the area is mostly peaceful.
The crime scene, four blocks north of the Bayonne Bridge, is about one block away from a convenience store frequented by neighborhood kids.
The murders took place inside a small house on the corner of Fourth Street and Avenue A, with a small garage near the front door and a large side yard with an outdoor grill. The front door, located on the Fourth Street side of the house, had a homicide scene sticker posted on it, warning people not to enter.
Local officials refused to speculate on the details of the case, but said that hard economic times tend to increase stress in already stressful situations.