Arrest made in slaying of New Jersey kindergarten teacher Luz Hernandez, prosecutor says
A person has been arrested in the beating and strangling death of the New Jersey kindergarten teacher whose body was found buried in a shallow grave, the Hudson County prosecutor said early Friday morning.
Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez made the announcement on social media platforms just before 1 a.m., but authorities did not provide a name or any details of the arrest.
Luz Hernandez, 33, a mother of three and a teacher at the BelovED Charter School, was reported missing Sunday or Monday and her body was found Tuesday afternoon in a shallow grave in an industrial area of Kearny, north of the Pulaski Skyway.
In a GoFundMe campaign established to raise money for a scholarship fund for Hernandez’s children, Hernandez’s sister said she was a victim of domestic violence.
Authorities have not said where she was killed, but a crime-scene note was attached to the door of her home on Van Horne Street near the BelovED school. During the course of the investigation, police also found blood splatters at apartment on another section of Van Horne Street.
Authorities initially reported her death as suspicious. Thursday, after an autopsy by the state Regional Medical Examiner’s Office, it was deemed it a homicide by blunt force trauma and strangulation.
Hernandez had been at BelovED since 2017 when she was hired as a teacher’s aide. She graduated from Saint Peter’s University in Jersey City and a friend said Thursday that she was working toward her master’s degree at SPU.
The donation drive via GoFundMe has raised more than $10,000 so far. Two of Hernandez’s children attend BelovED, Hernandez’s sister said in the posting.