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Gualberto Lebron, 35, was charged on Thursday with murdering Julia Vega, an ex-girlfriend and the mother of his children, according to Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens and Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose.
The grand jury also indicted his older brother, Gilberto Lebron, Jr., 36, for helping cover up Vega's murder, Stephens and Ambrose said.
On May 5, 2018, Gualberto Lebron assaulted the mother of his young children at her home in Newark, Stephens and Ambrose said. Newark Police were called, but he fled the scene before they arrived.
Four days later, Vega left work at a local day care center to go home and walk her dogs during her lunch break. Gualberto Lebron allegedly followed her to her residence and murdered her inside, Stephens and Ambrose said. At the time of the murder the two were estranged.
An investigation found that Gualberto Lebron, with the assistance of his brother, Gilberto, placed Vega's remains in sealed garbage bags with chemicals intended to disintegrate her remains, authorities said.
Gualberto Lebron was arrested by the U.S. Marshals and the Newark Fugitive Apprehension Team after a manhunt and car chase on May 11, 2019, the prosecutor said.
Following an extensive search around the state, Vega's remains were recovered in a chemical slurry in the rear of an abandoned property in Irvington on June 1, 2018, authorities said.
Gualberto Lebron has been indicted for murder, felony murder, sexual assault, desecration of human remains, burglary, robbery, stalking, aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children and hindering apprehension, the prosecutor said.
His brother, Gilberto Lebron, has been indicted for desecration of human remains, hindering apprehension, destruction of evidence and illegal possession of weapons, the prosecutor said.
The Lebron brothers were being held at the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark.
Assistant Prosecutor Adam Wells is handling the case.
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