Branchburg Man Indicted For Killing Grandparents With Baseball Bat As They Slept: Prosecutor

Branchburg, NJ - A Somerset County man who beat his grandparents to death with an aluminum bat while they slept was indicted for murder, Acting Somerset County Prosecutor Michael H. Robertson announced Wednesday.

Ezra Simon-Daniels, age 20, of Readington Road, in Branchburg Township was indicted on charges of two counts of first degree murder and one count of third degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose for the death of his grandparents, Louis and Beatrice Simon.

Just before 6 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 13, a "distraught” Simon-Daniels dialed 9-1-1 while sitting in a car in the Walmart parking lot on Route 22 in Whitehouse, according to the prosecutor's release.

When Readington Township Police responded, they found Simon-Daniels covered in blood but did not have any visible wounds on his body, according to the prosecutor's release.

Soon after, Branchburg Police responded to Simon-Daniels’ home on Readington Road, where they knocked on the door several times and received no response.

Once inside, officers reported discovering the elderly couple, Louis and Beatrice Simon with “significant blunt force trauma to their heads,” according to the prosecutor's report.

"The investigation revealed that both victims were lying in bed when they were assaulted," according to Robertson. "The suspected murder weapon, an aluminum baseball bat, was located inside the house."

Post-Mortem examinations conducted by the New Jersey Northern Regional Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed the victims were the Simons and the manner and cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head and ruled a homicide.

Simon-Daniels remains in the Somerset County Jail in lieu of $2 million cash only bail.

(Photo, SCPO: Ezra Simon-Daniels, age 20, of Readington Road, in Branchburg Township)

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