Memorial scheduled for fatally stabbed NJ mom and children

PENNS GROVE — A memorial will be Saturday for the mother and her two children who were killed inside their apartment before the children's father was found hanged in a wooded area this month.

Ruth Reyes Serverino and her two children, Euriany Severino, 5, and Eury Severino, 2, were repeatedly stabbed on Feb. 4 in their Penns Grove Apartments home. Their deaths were ruled a homicide by Salem County Prosecutor John Lenahan, who has not identified the killer.

The slain family was discovered after police conducted a wellness check on the address after finding the body of Eugenio Severino, who they believe hanged himself in a wooded area off Sportsman Road in Carneys Point.

Authorities have not described the deaths as a murder-suicide.

Police told CBS Philly that the woman had a restraining order against her husband. Severino's boss, Johnny Solano, told NJ.com that after she got the restraining order she asked the apartment's management to change the locks because she feared that her husband could get in with his keys.

A memorial is scheduled for Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Bagwell Funeral Home in Penns Grove, according to NJ.com.

The state’s Victim Compensation Fund is paying for the funeral, according to NJ.com, but a GoFundMe page is collecting funds to pay for the return of their bodies to the Dominican Republic.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ