History Of Domestic Violence Led To Newark Mom’s Murder: Prosecutors

NEWARK, NJ — A Newark man who stalked and killed the mother of his children in 2018 after a history of domestic violence has been convicted of murder, prosecutors announced Tuesday.

Gualberto Lebron, 37, killed his ex-girlfriend, Julia Vega, 30, then tried to disintegrate her remains by putting them in sealed garbage bags filled with chemicals, according to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.

After a four-week trial, an Essex County jury found Lebron guilty on 21 of 24 counts, including Aggravated Murder, Burglary, Aggravated Assault, Aggravated Sexual Assault, Witness Tampering, Desecrating Human Remains, Conspiracy and three counts of Endangering the Welfare of Children.

The jury also convicted his brother, Gilberto Lebron, 38, of Newark, of Desecrating Human Remains and Hindering Prosecution and Conspiracy after he helped to destroy Vega’s remains and cover up the crime, prosecutors said.

The charges against Lebron date back to spring 2018, prosecutors said:

“A history of domestic violence led to a May 5, 2018, strangulation aggravated assault and sexual assault by Gualberto Lebron against Vega in her Newark apartment while the children were there. Vega escaped and was chased outside by Lebron, where he continued attempting to assault her until neighbors intervened. He fled before the police arrived and was a fugitive for several days.”

After that assault, Lebron increased his stalking and threats against Vega, threatening to kill her if she didn’t drop the charges against him. Friends and police encouraged Vega to move into a domestic violence shelter, but she declined, having recently gotten her own apartment with her children, prosecutors said.

The murder took place four days later, prosecutors said:

“On May 9, 2018, while her children were in school, Vega went home on a lunch break from her job at a local daycare center to walk her dogs. Gualberto Lebron stalked her, broke into her apartment, and murdered her. He cleaned the apartment, carried her body out in a rolled-up rug and loaded it into Vega’s minivan. He then drove away with her body. Vega was reported missing that evening, and a missing person’s investigation began.”

Over the next several days, Lebron kept Vega’s body concealed as he scouted locations to hide it, prosecutors said. He enlisted the help of his brother to destroy her remains and other evidence, and they eventually stored her body inside heavy-duty trash bags filled with chemicals and sealed with duct tape.

The bags containing her remains were found behind an abandoned house in Irvington on June 1, 2018, authorities said.

Lebron faces a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for the Aggravated Murder conviction. His brother, Gilberto Lebron, faces up to 10 years in prison for his conviction for Desecrating Human Remains. Sentencing is scheduled for April 3, prosecutors said.

Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site.