NJ bakers stabbed over eggplant? Yes – NJ Top News

Here are the top stories on New Jersey 101.5 for Monday, August 4, 2025

⬛ Double homicide claims the lives of a NJ veterinarian and a volunteer firefighter

PITTSTOWN —  After a shocking double homicide in Hunterdon County over the weekend, there are reports that a state trooper who dated one of the victims was later found dead of apparent suicide in Middlesex County.

On Saturday, Franklin Township police responded to a 9-1-1 call and found a 33-year-old Pittstown woman killed, alongside a 29-year-old Forked River man.  The victims, Lauren Semanchik and Tyler Webb, were mourned on social media as a beloved veterinarian and volunteer firefighter, respectively.

The New York Times and NJ.com both report trooper Ricardo Santos, Semanchik’s ex-boyfriend, had been identified as a likely suspect, before being found dead in a park in Piscataway. No prosecutor's office has yet confirmed Santos' ID or a connection to the Pittstown case.

⬛ Stabbed over eggplant at a NJ bakery

PATERSON — Stabbed over eggplant.

That's what the owners of Baladna Bakery in Paterson told ABC 7 Eyewitness News. The brothers, identified as Abed and Mohammad Assad were both stabbed on Thursday morning over eggplant that was served in a sandwich to a customer four years ago.

The man apparently came into the bakery angry about the eggplant sandwich he ordered four years ago, saying it gave him stomach issues. So, he stabbed Mohammad in the stomach and slashed Abed's arm. Abed is back at work with his arm in bandages and a sling, ABC 7 reported, but Mohammad is still in the hospital fighting for his life.

Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh tells ABC 7 he's confident an arrest will be made soon and is asking area businesses to help in the investigation.

⬛ New Jersey shakes and rattles on Saturday night with latest quake

HASBROUCK HEIGHTS — It wasn't a Saturday night dance party or fans stomping for joy at the Meadowlands that got the ground rattling this weekend.

A moderate quake was measured in North Jersey late Saturday night by the U.S. Geological Survey — the latest for the region.

The magnitude 3.0 earthquake on the Richter scale that occurred around 10:18 p.m. had an epicenter on Madison Avenue in Hasbrouck Heights. It's not far from Route 17 and Teterboro Airport. It is approximately 5 miles from MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, which hosted the WWE's Summer Slam event on Saturday night.

⬛ New support system in NJ is designed for parents of kids with cancer

CHESTER — If you’re a parent in New Jersey whose child is suffering from cancer, and you could use someone to talk to, help is here.

For more than 40 years, Cancer Hope Network, a non-profit organization has been providing personalized, one-on-one peer mentorship support to adult cancer patients and their caregivers.

Now, they’ve expanded that support.

In June, it launched “Hopeful Hearts: Parents Supporting Parents,” a peer mentor program in Chester, New Jersey, specifically designed to help support parents whose children are dealing with cancer and currently undergoing treatment.

“Every mentor in our program is a parent whose own child has gone through a cancer experience and is at least one year out of active treatment. So, they’re able to offer first-hand experience and a unique understanding of what it’s like to parent a child who is going through cancer and what it looks like in terms of post-treatment survivorship for a child who’s gone through cancer,” Blakey said.

There is no one who better understands the situation than someone who has walked in those same shoes, she added.

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