Maria Niotis and Isabella Salas were 17 when prosecutors say they were intentionally struck.
CRANFORD, N.J. — The families of Maria Niotis and Isabella Salas are mourning two best friends who would have graduated this year while a murder case against the driver accused of killing them moves through adult court.
Niotis and Salas, both 17, were riding together on an e-bike on Sept. 29, 2025, when they were struck on Burnside Avenue in Cranford. Prosecutors say Vincent Battiloro, now 18, intentionally ran them down. The deaths shook the Union County community and left the girls’ families pressing for both justice and answers.
Family attorneys described the girls as close friends with full lives ahead of them. Cory Rothbort, an attorney for the Salas family, said Isabella had performed in theater since sixth grade and had “a beautiful voice.” He said the family wants people to keep saying both girls’ names and honoring who they were.
The girls’ deaths also brought renewed attention to claims made before the crash. An attorney for one family said Battiloro had been accused of harassing Niotis and her family, including reports that her home had been targeted by swatting calls. Officials have not publicly answered all questions about what police knew before the fatal crash.
The case entered a new stage when Battiloro was charged as an adult with two counts of first-degree murder. He appeared in court Wednesday and was ordered to remain jailed. The move out of juvenile court gives the families more access to information than they would have had in family court.
For the families, the court case is moving alongside grief. The girls were remembered as sweet, compassionate and inseparable. Their deaths have remained a painful subject in Cranford, where classmates, relatives and neighbors have gathered in the months since the crash to mourn them and support their families.
The criminal case is still pending. Battiloro remains jailed, and prosecutors are preparing the adult murder case as the families wait for more answers about the crash and the earlier warnings they say were missed.
Author note: Last updated July 4, 2026.