NRI PULSE STAFF REPORT
Hillsborough, N.J., January 15, 2025 — A 35-year-old Hillsborough Township woman has been charged with murdering her two young sons, whose bodies were found inside their family home Tuesday evening, authorities said.
Somerset County prosecutors identified the woman as Priyatharsini Natarajan, who is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and third-degree unlawful possession of a weapon. The victims were her sons, ages 5 and 7.
According to court documents and prosecutors, police were called to a residence on Shell Court around 6:45 p.m. Tuesday after the children’s father returned home from work and discovered that both boys were not breathing. Officers from the Hillsborough Township Police Department found the children dead in a bedroom.
Investigators said the children had apparently been strangled. During a search of the home, detectives recovered multiple ligature materials, according to an affidavit filed in the case. The official cause and manner of death are pending confirmation by the medical examiner.
Authorities also said Natarajan left behind a handwritten note addressed to her husband, in which she stated that she planned to kill the children and herself. The affidavit further states that before the father contacted police, Natarajan confessed to him that she had killed the boys.
No motive has been released.
Natarajan was taken into custody and is being held at the Somerset County Jail pending further court proceedings. Prosecutors said she was formally charged Wednesday. It is not yet known whether she has entered a plea.
The investigation is being conducted by the Hillsborough Township Police Department in coordination with the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit and the county Medical Examiner’s Office. Authorities said they were awaiting positive identification of the children before releasing additional details.
The deaths have deeply shaken the local community. The boys were students at Sunnymead Elementary School. In a statement, Superintendent Mike Volpe called the incident an “unfathomable loss.”
“Our community — of which I am a resident — is navigating an unfathomable loss today,” Volpe said. “There are no words to adequately capture the weight of this tragedy, and our hearts are with the families and the entire Sunnymead community as they grieve.”
