N.J. Man Killed Grandparents With Baseball Bat As They Slept: Prosecutor

Branchburg, NJ -- A 20-year-old New Jersey man killed his grandparents with an aluminum baseball bat while they slept on Saturday, law officials announced Wednesday.

Ezra Simon-Daniels killed Louis Simon, 78, and Beatrice Simon, 65, at their Readington Road in Branchburg Township on Saturday, officials with the Somerset County Prosecutor’s office allege.

The couple has been identified as Simon-Daniels’ grandparents, said Captain Jack Bennett, communications director of the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.

Simon-Daniels was arrested with two counts of first degree murder in connection with the case.

“The cause and manner of death of both victims was blunt force trauma to the head,” Somerset County Prosecutor Geoffrey D. Soriano said. “Both deaths have been ruled as homicides.”

Officials have not provided a motive in the alleged murders.

Around 6 a.m. on Saturday, a ”distraught” Simon-Daniels dialed 911 while sitting in a car in the Walmart parking lot on Route 22 in Whitehouse, Soriano said.

When Readington Township Police responded, they found Simon-Daniels covered in blood but did not have any visible wounds on his body, Soriano said.

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 an elderly male and female, both apparent homicide victims with “significant blunt force trauma to their heads,” Soriano said.

A “preliminary investigation has revealed that both victims were lying in bed when they were assaulted. The suspected murder weapon, an aluminum baseball bat, was located inside the house,” Soriano said.