Eugenio Severino Murdered His Wife and Two Children After She Obtained a Restraining Order and Reportedly Begged for the Locks to Be Changed

 

Eugenio Severino Murdered His Estranged Wife and Two Young Children After She Obtained a Restraining Order

On February 5, 2020, 54-year-old Eugenio Severino murdered his estranged wife and their two young children inside their apartment in Penns Grove, New Jersey, before dying by suicide.

The victims were:

• Ruth Esther Reyes de Severino, 30, his estranged wife

• Eurianny Severino, 5, their daughter

• Eury Severino, 2, their son

According to investigators, Severino used a key to unlock the door of apartment 47 at the Penns Grove Gardens complex.

Once inside, he fatally stabbed Ruth and both children.

After the killings, Severino walked to a nearby wooded park and died by suicide.

Police discovered the family's bodies after first locating Severino.

But this wasn't a case in which nobody knew Ruth was in danger.

She had already gone to court to protect herself.

Severino had reportedly threatened Ruth's life on multiple occasions. On January 16, 2020, less than three weeks before the murders, a New Jersey court finalized a domestic violence restraining order against him.

The order legally barred Severino from the family's apartment.

But according to a subsequent wrongful death lawsuit, he still had a key.

Ruth had reportedly asked the apartment management company at least five times to change the locks because her estranged husband could still enter the residence.

The lawsuit alleges that management repeatedly denied those requests.

On February 5, Severino allegedly used that very access to enter the apartment and kill Ruth and their children.

In 2021, Ruth's grieving family filed a wrongful death and negligence lawsuit against Penns Grove Apartments LLC and its management company, Housing Management Resources.

The lawsuit also alleged that the complex had failed to comply with a local security ordinance requiring exterior security cameras and adequate lighting following an earlier fatal shooting on the property.

Those allegations concern the property's security measures and management's potential civil liability. They are not findings of negligence unless established by a court.

The central allegation, however, is devastating.

Ruth had a restraining order. She had reportedly warned management repeatedly. She had asked for the locks to be changed.

And according to her family's lawsuit, the man she was trying to keep out still had a way inside.

Because Severino died, he was never criminally prosecuted. Authorities determined that he killed Ruth and the children before taking his own life.

Ruth was 30. Eurianny was five. Eury was two. Their mother had taken legal steps to protect them, but a court order couldn't stop a man who still had a fucking key.