Body Of Jersey City Teacher Found In Shallow Grave In Kearny

KEARNY, NJ — The body of a Jersey City woman was discovered Tuesday buried in a shallow grave in Kearny, according to Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez. News reports identified her as a kindergarten teacher in Jersey City — which would make her the second teacher from that city killed in three weeks.

The woman has been tentatively identified as Luz Hernandez, 33, of Jersey City.

NJ.com reported that after she didn't show up at her job at BelovED Charter School in that city Monday, school officials reported her missing.

Jersey City Police conducted a welfare check at a Van Horne Street home, officials said.

What police found at the home (undisclosed by the prosecutor) resulted in them contacting the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office for assistance.

The investigation led the county prosecutor's Homicide Unit to locate what appeared to be a shallow grave in the area of Central Avenue and Third Street in Kearny on Tuesday.

Police pulled the body of a woman from the grave, and she was pronounced dead at the scene at 4:53 p.m.

The Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Unit is actively investigating this case with assistance from Jersey City Police and Kearny Police. No arrests have been made at this time.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Office of the Hudson County Prosecutor at 201-915-1345 or to leave an anonymous tip at http://www.hudsoncountyprosecu... All information will be kept confidential.

Another Woman Killed This Week

This case is one of several murders of women in Hudson County recently.

On Tuesday of this week, a 24-year-old West New York woman was stabbed to death in a domestic violence incident. A person has been taken into custody.

West New York Police were notified at 5:54 a.m. on Tuesday of an injured person at 4914 Murphy Place in that town, they said. Responding officers found a woman "lifeless" with apparent stab wound, the prosecutor's office said. She was pronounced dead at the scene at 6:31 a.m.

A person of interest was in custody at Hackensack University Medical Center, the prosecutor's office said, but would not release further information.

The killing of the West New York woman marked the fourth reported domestic violence incident against women in Hudson County so far this year:

Two weeks ago, a Jersey City teacher was fatally shot by a 39-year-old man, who is in police custody. The teacher's daughter, who was present during the shooting, called 911.

The week before, in mid January, a child, 11, and a woman were stabbed in Jersey City, in what police are also saying was an act of domestic violence. A man has been arrested and charged. Both the woman and the child survived, but the child was last listed in critical condition.

That same week, a woman in Harrison was stabbed to death and her son was charged.