A New Jersey teenager with a large following on YouTube and TikTok has been charged with murder after allegedly running down two girls who were riding an e-bike in their hometown of Cranford.
The tragedy has shaken the small Union County community and put a spotlight on the 17-year-old driver accused of intentionally hitting the girls on Monday night.
The two 17-year-old Cranford students were identified by family and friends as Isabella Salas and Maria Niotis. They were struck on Burnside Avenue shortly before 5:30 p.m. Monday. They were airlifted to area hospitals before both were pronounced dead.
A series of Cranford municipal traffic citations issued after the crash identified the driver as Vincent P. Battiloro, 17, of neighboring Garwood.
The tickets said Battiloro, who turns 18 early next month, was driving 70 miles per hour when the girls were hit by his black Jeep.
Battiloro faces two counts of murder in addition to the municipal traffic citations and other charges in the case.
His family has not responded to requests to comment and it remained unclear Friday if he had an attorney.
Who is Vincent P. Battiloro?
Battiloro is a 17-year-old high school student from Garwood who is related to a local police chief.
Westfield Police Chief Christopher Battiloro, who lives in Cranford, acknowledged in a statement Wednesday that the person accused of killing two teenage girls is related to him. He did not name the relative, but said the teen is not a member of his immediate family.
The police chief is Vincent Battiloro’s uncle, family obituaries indicated.
“While social media has made it known that the accused is related to me, he is not my son and not a member of my immediate family,” Battiloro said on behalf of himself and his family.
“I want to be clear, as loud and as firm as possible, that in no way do my wife, children or I condone, defend, or excuse the actions that caused this terrible and tragic loss of life,” the chief said.
Battiloro has a following on YouTube, TikTok and other social media sites, where he talks about baseball and plays live video games with others.
He attended Arthur L. Johnson High School in Clark for a brief time, a classmate said. Battiloro said in a YouTube livestream on Tuesday that he was planning to start at a new school.
What charges is Battiloro facing?
The Union County Prosecutor’s Office did not name the driver accused in the killing of the girls, but said he is facing two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the crash.
Authorities typically do not provide a name when the person charged is under 18.
Court records show citations were issued to Battiloro on Monday for leaving the scene of an accident, reckless driving, careless driving and speeding. Municipal records also revealed he received summonses for driving without a license, registration and insurance card.
Criminal court proceedings that involve juveniles are handled in family court, which is closed to the public, unless the case is waived up to be tried as an adult.
The details on the publicly-available municipal citations issued to Battiloro match the date, time, location and type of vehicle, a black Jeep, involved in Monday’s crash.
In New Jersey, juveniles charged with serious crimes can be “waived” into adult court under specific circumstances. Prosecutors have not said if they are considering asking to have Battiloro’s case waived up to adult court.
What led to the crash?
An investigation into Monday’s crash continues, but the families of the two victims said they believe the attack was planned.
“It is now vital that the truth be shared: this was not an e-bike accident, and it was not a hit-and-run,” said a statement from the families sent to Fox 5 New York. “This was murder in the first degree.”
The families’ statement accused the driver of plotting the attack against Maria for months. “He is not insane, he is competent and medicated,” the statement said.
Although some of the circumstances surrounding the crash remain unclear days later, a friend of both girls, Kelly Tretola of Sayreville, said she was aware of serious issues between Maria and an ex-boyfriend.
Maria’s ex-boyfriend had sent threatening messages to a boy she dated after him, Tretola told NJ Advance Media earlier this week.
In screenshots shared with NJ Advance Media, one of the teens told the ex-boyfriend “the school already told you to stop harassing her.”
Friends and family of the victims also said the teen driver had been stalking Maria and police were aware of the issues she was having with him.
Authorities have not commented on the claims.
Isabella’s family said she did not know Battiloro.
What did Battiloro say after the crash?
Battiloro hosted a 22-minute YouTube livestream the day after the crash, saying there’s “more to the story.”
In the chilling clip, viewed by tens of thousands, the teen talked about the fatal crash. But he didn’t say if he hit the two girls.
“I wish my sincerest condolences to those two girls lost in that tragic accident, OK,” he said during the livestream. “It is an absolute unfortunate situation and there’s more to the story that you’re not getting. But when the time comes, I will explain it in greater detail.”
The livestream video was posted Tuesday night on the YouTube channel “VinnieBatt118″ after Battiloro was released from police custody but before he was charged with murder.
“I’ve been through way too much. I’m a nice kid. I’m 17 years old with a good family by my side. And these allegations that have been ruining everything, is a shame,” he said during the livestream before playing an online video game with someone else.
Friends, neighbors and classmates of the two girls killed in the hit-and-run crash said the “VinnieBatt118″ YouTube page is run by Battiloro.
Battiloro appeared annoyed during the YouTube livestream the day after the crash when viewers posted comments accusing him of killing the girls in Cranford.
Profile photos from TikTok and Xbox Live accounts linked to Battiloro’s name seem to show the same black Jeep he was accused of driving in the crash on Monday.
What else did Battiloro say on YouTube?
In the YouTube livestream video on Tuesday, Battiloro talked about being a gamer and drawing a following of nearly 40,000 followers on TikTok in addition to his YouTube page.
But in parts of the 22-minute livestream he also addressed his followers about what he referred to as “the allegations” from his past.
“I’ve been bullied, ridiculed, and stuff over false allegations, OK, over this whole thing about things that have happened in the past,” the 17-year-old told those watching.
Battiloro also said there needs to be improved mental health care in New Jersey, though he did not specify if he was referring to his own mental health.
He later added that he had experienced an “absolutely absurd” amount of bullying.
“I don’t plan to go anywhere anytime soon, regarding streaming. But again, if I do end up taking a hiatus, I’m telling you guys why,” Battiloro said.
During the stream, the teen acknowledged he didn’t think he should be speaking publicly.
“I really don’t even know if I should be streaming this right now,” he remarked.
“I’m not going to talk about it anymore on the advice of loved ones and others,” he later said, noting he’d provide more details during a future video.
Most of Battiloro‘s social media presence seemed to revolve around professional baseball and “MLB: The Show,” a baseball video game.
He called the baseball video game his “safe spot.”
What has Battiloro said in the past?
NJ Advance Media reviewed video footage and transcripts covering more than a dozen hours of Battiloro’s voluminous livestreams. They included his comments about a school suspension for what he claimed were false allegations of distributing “child porn.”
He compared himself to former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer, who was suspended over sexual assault allegations in 2021 but never criminally charged.
Battiloro also expressed admiration in his livestreams for Andrew Tate, a polarizing influencer who is accused of running a criminal sex trafficking ring in Romania.
“I got a bunch of allegations being handed to me, of crazy s–t, stuff I will deny for 50 years to the end of my life,” he told the chat in a May 13 stream. “Ridiculous allegations that this girl is making against me.”
In other livestreams, he played “Grand Theft Auto,” chattered about baseball and simulated MLB gameplay.
Some of the footage was taken down immediately after Monday’s crash. Other clips could still be publicly viewed as of Friday morning.
In Sept. 23 livestream, Battiloro showed off an iPhone he said he was converting to a “burner” — using VPN technology to mask his number — while he made harassing phone calls to the Niotis family.
“I think Maria is hungry,” Battiloro said more than two hours into the video, outlining a plan to viewers to order pizzas to the girl’s home as “vengeance” for getting him in trouble at school.
“You should not have accused me of sending porn, and you should not have dragged me into creating a police report,” he said, referencing not just Maria but her mother by their names.
“You made a bad decision making a bad name of myself.”
It remains unclear what exactly prompted the comments.
Did police investigate Battiloro before the crash?
Maria’s grandmother, who spoke on the condition her name would not be published, told NJ Advance Media that Monday’s crash occurred in front of her home.
She said the girl’s mother had contacted police several times about issues involving the teen accused of driving the car that hit the girls.
“My daughter went to the Cranford police station three times to report that boy,” she said outside her home on Wednesday.
“He killed two beautiful girls,” she said of the driver, tearing up as she glanced at the growing memorial down the street.
“He should pay.”
Battiloro referenced a police investigation on his livestream YouTube videos several times over the summer, NJ Advance Media found in reviewing online footage.
“Because I got into her relationship business and now the school — and now I’m gonna tell you all this — cops got involved and the school got involved,“ he said in one clip.
“So they suspended me basically indefinitely until they figure it out, which makes, again, makes no sense.”
However, by June he said in another livestream that police told him “that the case is going to be dismissed and I am not going to be facing any charges.”
NJ Advance Media staff reporters Jeff Goldman, Katie Kausch, S.P. Sullivan, Chris Sheldon, Matthew Enuco and Kevin Shea contributed to this report.
Editor’s Note: NJ Advance Media does not typically report the names of juveniles charged with crimes. An exception has been made based on the severity of the charges in this case.