NJ chef was 5 months pregnant when killed in murder-suicide, prosecutor says

JERSEY CITY — A chef and restaurant owner was about five months pregnant when she was killed Sunday, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said Monday.

An autopsy by the Regional Medical Examiner found 35-year-old Garima Kothari suffered multiple upper body injuries in her death, which was officially ruled a homicide, Suarez said.

The prosecutor called it an apparent murder-suicide, though a cause of death for 37-year-old Man Mohan Mall still was pending Monday evening.

Mall was found in the Hudson River near Exchange Place just before 8 a.m. Sunday, by police responding to a report of a possible suicide attempt, Suarez said.

The prosecutor said officers also found Kothari unresponsive in the Christopher Columbus Drive residence the two had shared. She was pronounced dead at the scene around 7:15 a.m.

Kothari was the chef and owner of NUKKAD, an "Indian soul food" restaurant that first opened its doors back in February on Greene Street in the Paulus Hook neighborhood of Jersey City.

The prosecutor’s office's Homicide Unit is investigating with assistance from Jersey City Police.

As of Monday, no further details on circumstances nor potential motive for the deaths were disclosed.

Anyone with information can contact the Prosecutor's Office at 201-915-1345 or leave an anonymous tip online. All information will be kept confidential.

More from New Jersey 101.5: