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Manuel Rivera has been charged with second-degree aggravated arson, first-degree murder, second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, and second-degree desecration of human remains, Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone said.
According to Sayreville Schools Superintendent Richard Labbe, 43-year-old Rivera was employed by the district, and his son was a student at the Wilson School.
The charges were filed in connection with an incident Thursday night, March 28, after Rivera left an Eisenhower Drive home in Sayreville with his son, Ciccone said alongside Sayreville Police Chief Daniel Plumacker.
Moments later, firefighters received reports of a fire near Sayreville High School on Washington Road. There, they found Rivera alive but burned and with some type of self-inflicted wound around 10:45 p.m., Ciccone said
They also found a vehicle that had been doused with gasoline and set on fire. Inside of it was the body of a child.
Police said the initial call at Eisenhower Drive was a domestic dispute, where a female told police Rivera had fled with his son, Plumacker and Ciccone said.
Rivera was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition.
Anyone with information or surveillance footage of the area is asked to call Detective Michael Pirigyi of the Sayreville Police Department at 732-727-4444 or Detective Jose Rosario of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at 732-745-3289.
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