Dad charged with murder after son, 9, found in burning car in Sayreville: prosecutors

SAYREVILLE, N.J. (PIX11) --- A father is accused of killing his 9-year-old son after the child was found in a burning car near a New Jersey high school Thursday night, authorities said.

Manuel Rivera, 43, was charged with murder, aggravated arson, and desecration of human remains, according to the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office.

Rivera allegedly got into a domestic dispute with his son's mother at a home on Eisenhower Drive before leaving the house with the boy, prosecutors said.

Authorities later found Rivera with burns and a self-inflicted wound near the torched car on Washington Road near Sayreville High School at around 10:45 p.m., prosecutors said. Rivera’s son was found in the vehicle, which was doused with gasoline and engulfed in flames, officials said.

“I’m terrified something this bad can happen and people are capable of doing such things,” a neighbor told PIX11 News on Friday. “It’s beyond evil.”

The father works for Sayreville Public Schools and the son was a student at a town elementary school, according to a statement from Sayreville War Memorial High School.

“It is with great shock and sorrow that I report to you that a Wilson School student was tragically killed last night in a car fire behind Sayreville War Memorial High School,” the statement said. “If you are a person of faith, please take the time to pray for our student and his family, including his extended family at the Wilson School. If you are not, please take a moment to send your positive thoughts to him and his family.”

Anyone with information or surveillance footage of the area is asked to call Detective Michael Pirigyi of the Sayreville Police Department at 732-727-4444 or Detective Jose Rosario of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at 732-745-3289.

Mira Wassef is a digital reporter who has covered news and sports in the New York City area for more than a decade. She joined PIX11 News in 2022. See more of her work here.