‘At close range’
NJ 'massacre' teen may get adult trial
The Jersey Shore teen accused of slaughtering his parents, sister and family friend on New Year’s Eve gunned down his victims “at close range” with an AK-47-style rifle, officials said Tuesday.
Scott Kologi, 16, has been charged as a juvenile with four counts of first-degree murder for the slayings inside the family’s Long Branch home — but Monmouth County prosecutors intend to try him as an adult.
“We’re going to be attempting to waive him or transfer his case from the juvenile-court system up to the adult-court system, but there is a process and a procedure that comes with that,” county Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni said at a press conference Tuesday.
Scott’s father, Steven, 44, mother, Linda, 42, sister Brittany, 18, and Mary Schultz, 70, were killed in the carnage just minutes before midnight.
“We think this was fairly sudden, and quick,” Gramiccioni said, adding that the victims were not all in the same room. Three others — the teen’s older brother, Steven Jr., grandfather, Adrian, and a family friend in her 20s — made it out alive. “Once they heard the shooting, they ran from it and called 911,” Gramiccioni said.
One of those survivors legally owned the AK-47 variant, made by Century Arms, that Scott allegedly used in the bloodbath. It had a magazine loaded with 15 7.62mm rounds, according to Gramiccioni.
“These deaths are homicides from multiple gunshots at close range,” the prosecutor added.
He called it a “heartbreaking family tragedy.”
“The unfortunate and sad reality is that [in] this case, when we seek justice for the remaining family members . . . the sad fact is that justice is likely going to involve serious punishment for yet another family member and loved one,” Gramiccioni said. “This is a situation that we don’t find ourselves often in.”
Authorities have yet to reveal a motive for the slayings.
Kologi, who is being held at the Middlesex County Youth Detention Center, is expected to appear in court Wednesday. His Tuesday hearing was postponed after media requested to have the court proceeding opened up to the press.
Andrea Santos, 45, who has known the family for four years, described Linda as being devoted to her teen son, whom friends and neighbors say is autistic.
“She was so devoted to that kid. She was always with him,” Santos told The Post. A GoFundMe page set up for the Kologi family has raised more than $26,000.