A former cop's son allegedly stalked two teenage girls for months, then ran them down at 70 mph in a 25 mph zone — and police let him walk free hours after the crash. If you want to understand who the system actually serves, stop reading op-eds about criminal justice reform and look at what happened in Cranford, New Jersey.

Vincent Battiloro, 18, pleaded not guilty Monday to two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Cranford High School seniors Maria Niotis and Isabella Salas, both 17. According to prosecutors, dashcam footage from Battiloro's own Jeep shows him following directly behind the girls' e-bike and accelerating before striking them on Burnside Avenue on Sept. 29, 2025. He was doing 70 in a 25. Both girls died at the scene.

For months before the crash, Battiloro had allegedly stalked Niotis, parking outside her home for extended periods, and was responsible for multiple swatting incidents at the family's house, according to the victims' family attorney, Brent Bramnick. This wasn't an accident. The grand jury's true bill states Battiloro "did knowingly and/or purposely cause the death" of both girls.

Here's where the real story lives. Battiloro was taken into custody the night of the crash — then released without charges, handed directly to his father, Jeffrey Battiloro, a retired Chatham Borough police officer. His uncle is the police chief in nearby Westfield. The victims' families want to know whether those ties influenced the initial release and the handling of the investigation.

"Show us what happened that night, when allegedly, the defendant's father came to the scene, and he was let go," Bramnick said outside court Monday. A year later, the families still don't have the body camera footage. "Right now, we don't have anybody's cams, and it's a year later," Bramnick said. "Where are the body cams? Why are we not looking at them? The public has a right to know."

The day after killing two girls, Battiloro went on a livestream, offered condolences, and called himself a "nice kid" from a "good family," according to NJ.com. He was arrested hours later and charged as a juvenile. The proceedings stayed sealed for months in family court. The public didn't learn the details until prosecutors announced in June 2026 that he'd be tried as an adult.

On Monday, Battiloro's attorney, Rubin Sinins, said they were considering an insanity defense and requested a change of venue. In court, Battiloro showed no emotion as the victims' mothers, sitting side by side in shirts reading "Justice for Bella and Maria," sobbed and stared him down, the New York Post reported. "We will fight like hell until they get the justice they deserve," Isabella's mother, Mary Salas, said through tears.

The families are demanding the state attorney general investigate "all law enforcement dealings and interactions with Vincent Battiloro and his family" and make the findings public. They deserve that much. Every American who has ever been told the system is rigged should look at Cranford: a cop's son allegedly stalks, swats, and ultimately kills two girls, and the first instinct of the officers on scene is to send him home with dad. The body cams stay buried. The case stays sealed. The connected kid gets the soft landing that no kid from the wrong side of the tracks would ever see.

The question isn't whether Vincent Battiloro is guilty — that's what trials are for. The question is whether the system that let him walk out that night will ever be held to account. Don't hold your breath.