NJ Dad Returns From Work to Discover Wife Killed Their Young Sons, Prosecutors Say

A New Jersey father found his two young sons “unconscious” when he arrived home from work, and called 911, declaring that “his wife did something to them,” prosecutors said.

Investigators determined his wife, Priyatharsini Natarajan, killed her two boys, ages 5 and 7, at their Hillsborough home on Tuesday, January 13, according to the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.

It was unclear how the children died, and police did not discuss a potential motive for the killings. A postmortem examination will be performed by the Northern Regional Medical Examiner’s Office to reveal their causes of deaths, the district attorney’s office said in a news release issued on Wednesday, January 14.

Natarajan, 35, was taken into custody on two counts of first-degree murder and one count of third-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, according to authorities.

Information on whether she had retained legal representation was not immediately available.

Around 6:45 p.m. on January 13, the father of the two boys called the police to his home, the prosecutor’s office said.

When Hillsborough Township police officers arrived, they found the father and Natarajan, according to the office.

Next, officers located their children inside a bedroom, where officers and first responders “initiated life saving measures which yielded negative results,” the prosecutor’s office said.

The boys were declared dead as a result, according to authorities.

Officials have not released the boys’ names, as their identities are pending. They will be identified by the medical examiner’s office, authorities said.

The children were students at Sunnymead Elementary School in Hillsborough Township, the school’s superintendent, Mike Volpe, confirmed to ABC7NY.

Volpe told the TV station that crisis teams will be stationed at the school in response to the boys’ deaths.

Natarajan is being held at the Somerset County Jail ahead of a detention hearing, according to the prosecutor’s office.

“The investigation remains on-going and no further information will be available for release at this time,” the office said in the news release.

The case comes after a Colorado mother, who is accused of killing her two children in December 2023, was recently extradited to the U.S. from London to face criminal charges, Us Weekly previously reported.

The woman, Kimberlee Singler, was accused of fleeing the U.S. after authorities said she killed her children at their Colorado Springs home. Singler, 37, was ultimately apprehended by law enforcement in London in December 2023.

Singler allegedly stabbed her two children, 7-year-old Aden Wentz, and 9-year-old Elianna Wentz, amid a custody battle, Us reported. She was also accused of trying to kill her oldest daughter, then 11, who police said survived the violence.

Singler is facing two counts of first-degree murder (after deliberation and with intent), two counts of first-degree murder (child victim under 12 years old), criminal attempt to commit first-degree murder and first-degree assault, according to Colorado’s 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

In New Jersey, authorities are encouraging anyone with information relevant to the investigation to call the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office at (908) 231-7100 or the Hillsborough Township Police Department at (908) 369-4323.

Tips can also be messaged anonymously to the STOPit app or called into the Somerset County Tips Line at (888) 577-TIPS (8477).

If you or someone you know is experiencing child abuse, call or text Child Help Hotline at 1-800-422-4453.