A 24-year-old Ocean County man suspected of strangling his 15-year-old female cousin to death is in custody after being arrested at Riverview Medical Center, Red Bank Police have confirmed.
Garry Zigich Jr. had been admitted to the hospital “for suicidal tendencies” at around 9a Tuesday, about nine hours before the body of Brittany Cena was found on the floor of her home by her grandparents, according to a report in the Asbury Park Press.
Authorities said the girl may have been dead most of the day. An autopsy will determine if she had been sexually assaulted, Ocean County Prosecutor Marlene Lynch Ford said at a press conference today, according to the Press.
Capt. Steve McCarthy, who heads the detective division in Red Bank, said his department was alerted that the suspect might be at the hospital last night. Det. Sgt Michael Frazee investigated, and confirmed Zigich’s identity. He notified Ocean County authorities and assisted in the arrest, McCarthy said.
Zigich was scheduled to appear before a judge in Ocean County this afternoon.
This is from the Star-Ledger:
A dozen family members and friends of Cena were present for Zigich’s first court appearance this afternoon. Zigich, appearing in green khaki prison garb, made eye contact with the family only once, when he looked to his left and mouthed the words, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it.” As he passed the family on his way back to jail, Ernie Cena, Brittany’s father, pounded the court railing.
Officials believe the teen was murdered sometime between 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, when she spoke by cell phone with a friend, and about 9 a.m.
Police responded to a missing person’s report by Brittany’s mother, Denise, at about 5 p.m. Tuesday. It was after police left the family’s home on Colonial Drive that Brittany’s grandparents found the young girl’s body in the basement.
“She was killed by placing his hands around the victim’s throat,” read the complaint, released by police at a news conference in Toms River.
Zigich, a former foster child who was under the supervision of the state’s child protection agency for a number of years, was arrested Tuesday night at Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank. Zigich, who had been living at the Cena home for the past month, arrived at the emergency room mid-morning Tuesday.
“He complained of suicidal tendencies,” said Ocean County Prosecutor Marlene Lynch Ford at the press conference earlier this afternoon. Police cited information provided by Brittany’s friends as helping them to make the arrest.
According to police, when Brittany did not show up at Toms River North High School, where she was a sophomore, friends began trying to reach her by phone. At about 4:30, hours after Brittany was expected home from school, her mother Denise called police to report her daughter missing.
Zigich is being held in the Ocean County jail on a $500,000 bond.
Am I imagining things or does it seem like crime and the number of criminals has been growing in Red Bank? Why is that? It used to be such a lovely and safe town. I'm not feeling so safe these days…
yeah the crime didnt happen in red bank fool. and think about it, you have one of the top mental wards there. also the man didnt reside in red bank, he was just in the hospital..
This young man Gary who committed this crime, I met ten years ago. I havn't spoke to him since then but he was very crazy back then. Something was always off.
yeah he was nuts back then for sure I dated him for about 3 years and haven't spoken to him since last year
If you knew "he was nuts back then for sure" - how can you date him for 3 yrs!!!!!!! long time to date someone like that,
Gary Zigich grew up in an abusive home, his parents were on and off drugs, I remember him from grade school then he had lived with his mother in north middletown. We hungout around there he was always riding a pink girls bicycle and following us around he was so creepy. Its a shame, but most people who have known him wouldnt be suprised that this has happened.He was troubled his whole life and something should have been done along time ago.
I remember Gary as well as his sister Jesse from grade school. There is no tolerance for murder, but I have to say there home life was a sad story, The parents if they were around were messed up on serious drugs, god knows the things they saw in that house as small children. I feel awful for this 15 year old girl and family, It really is a shock to see someone you knew at one time on trial for Murder. I just wish he had gotten the help he needed about 10 years ago, Maybe this would have never happened!
yeaa umm who cares about his personal life back then.theres no excuse..hes a phyco. this poor girl was just sitting at home with her cousin who she trusted and he goes crazy and kills her?! this girl litterally lives 5 minutes away from me. this could have been anyone. this whole thing is unbelieveable.brittany rip..and to her family im sorry. i really cant believe this happened good luck with everything and stay strong..
You must be one dumb skank to date this guy. psychos are attracted to psychos you should probably be admitted yourself. Let me guess you do drugs……don't answer we all know
this happend because Gary was messed up on drugs. Garys mother was not abusive nor was she into drugs. his mother tried her hardest to help Gary throughout his life and he took advantage of her. this is sad and my heart goes out to the family of Brittany, but also to Gary for letting drugs ruin his life.
the whole fsmily is fd up i think most of them reside in keansburg, i heard his dad got arrested for burning the american flsg one time!
YEAH UM HIS PERSONAL LIFE AND THE WAY HE GREW UP IS AS HUGE FACTOR IN WHY THIS HAPPENED SO YEAH IT DOES MATTER, THE POOR GIRL LOST HER LIFE TO SOMEONE WHO NEVER HAD ONE BECAUSE HE DIDNT GET THE HELP HE NEEDED.. HIS FAMILY HAS CRMINAL RECORDS ALL OVER NJ AND HE WAS BOUNCED AROUND TO FOSTER HOMES. SO WHY DONT WE ALL LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE HERE YOU JUST DONT DO DRUGS AND THEN DECIDE TO KILL SOMEONE, IT WAS A LIFETIME OF HORRORS THE DRUGS WERE THE THIN LAYER CONCEALING EVERYTHING.. WHY DO YOU THINK HE WAS ON DRUGS IN THE FIRST PLACE ?. RIP BRITTANY PEACE BE WITH HER FAMILY
I am in shock at the nasty comments you people make! Sometimes, when a guy is nuts, they don't let it show all that quick. The beginning is always roses and sunshine. (GOOGLE: IS HE ABUSIVE)
Next….OF COURSE IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW ABOUT THIS GUY'S WHOLE LIFE! DO WE NOT WANT TO PREVENT THIS FROM HAPPENING AGAIN AND AGAIN? We have to have some way to understand these freaks…I am not saying to sympathize for them, but if we can understand what goes wrong….maybe we can stop another from happening. This is horrible.
OH! And to the peice of dirt who referred to someone as a "dumb skank" and said "psychos are attracted to psychos" get yourself some mental help buddy. YOU need it. Definitely holding some agression there.
wow. i cant believe some of the things u people are saying. get over ur gay personal lives and look at the bigger picture. an innocent girl was murdered for no apparant reason. the drugs played a big factor in this…Brittany was a wonderful friend of mine who everyone at school knew of and loved. this was a terrible tragedy that affected EVERYONE. i just wish i could wake up from this crazy nightmare and talk to brittany again =/ RIP Brittany, your always be in my heart<333
I have to say, this is some shocking news. I can understand where each and every one of you is coming from. Except for the a**h*le that wants to pass judgement from his high seat. I say this, because I dated Gary when were younger, and if you'd like I could send you my resume. And a clean bill of health. I graduated NJIT with a major in mathematics and a minor in business. And I wouldn't refer to myself as a skank, but thats your choice of words now isn't it!
Anyway, some people here are correct and others are embellishing just a bit. Gary was NOT a saint, but he was not a psycho either. He was just a sad hopeless boy. His father abandoned his family and it hurt him very deeply. His mother did the best she could as a single parent, but Gary was a problem child. He acted out a lot, which is to be expected for a boy whose father left at a critical age.
Gary was always the smallest boy in the group, and took a lot of beatings from his peers. Let's be honest, N Middletown and Keansburg aren't the easiest place to survive adolescence. The most significant event that I can remember is when 6 Keansburg police officers put, a then 14 year old, Gary into hand cuffs and beat him and kicked him…all because he didn't know where his friend was. Gary spent almost a week in the hospital with a concusion, and was so scared that he never told anyone who had beat him. I would not be shocked to hear he had permanent brain damage because of that event. There were many wrongs in Gary's life, but that in no way makes this situation right. It just means that we need to learn from it. The facts are still unclear, but the truth is that the system failed. Not only was he beat by cops and abandoned by his father, but every source of authority failed him or VIOLATED him in some way or another.
The truly sad part about this, is that someone else had to be affected by this whole thing. My heart goes out to the Cena's, they were probably the only people in this boys life that tried to help him, but unfortuneately it was too late. And for their kindness they are punished in the cruelest of ways: to have to know that their daughter's fate rested in their decision to help their nephew. That family is suffering the loss of two family members this week. I am truly saddened by this whole event. And my prayers are with everyone affected by this ordeal.
I'm sorry but if your standing face to face with someone with your hands around their neck seeing they can't breathe and are about to die, and you don't care and continue until she's breethless, this qualifies anyone as a PSYCHO! Sooo his personnal life was messed up, didn't have any family support, finally he gets some and then he goes and murders someone who finally cared, PSYCHO. Sad story but he must have been a nut…
MAYBE WE SHOULD JUST SAY NOTHING AT ALL.
I remember that pink bicycle, It was mine! My creepy neighbor gary stole it! i knew it! Cant beleive he murderd someone, that takes alot of rage
Calm down Mr/Mrs "This is Ridiculous" no one here is saying "Poor Gary," we are just trying to figure out how a person can get to the point where they are capable of murder. If we pigeon hole Gary and write him off as a nut, than we are left hopeless. As a society, we already turn a blind eye too much. You see someone's kid acting out and you think…"that's not my child," and ignore the situation. But that very same child is capable of invading your life and destroying your hard earned peace, just the same way Gary did for the Cena's. There is an old saying that goes: "it takes a whole communioty to raise a child." So essentially, we are all to blame. Because we sit back and judge and call names instead of trying to fix the problem. Sure we can't change what happened, and we certainly can't fix Gary. But there is another Gary on his way, and it is up to everyone to steer him away from such craziness.
There are other things that need to be considered as well. Such as the LEGAL drugs that Gary was prescribed to, but had stopped taking. This isn't the first time someone committed a crime while they were off their MEDS. I strongly believe that any kind of medication that alters ones chemical balance should be striclty moniterd. If someone consents to taking these pills, they should have to sign a release agreeing to stay on them. And the government should supplement this act, by agreeing to provide such meds during times of hardship.
This whole situation is a nightmare. Especially for the Cena family. But I am sorry, there is nothing we can do or say to bring Brittany back. But we need to discuss these the factors surrounding this event before our own children are affected.
If you are on the side that doesn't CARE about Gary's history, than you obviously don't care about the future. As the saying goes: "History tends to repeat itself!"
First off my mother wasnt on drugs n e 1 who was actually around would know second i was in the same household n i didnt bcome a murder third garry was the abusive 1 but it was only taken out on me so how dare any of u comment on ne thing when u have no idea how this has taken a toll on any 1 keep ur comments 2 ur selves a**holes
And even tho i was the 1 tormented half my life by being choked slapped punched kicked spit on no one ever thought he would do that 2 n e 1 especially not britt cause he loved her however im not defending what he did i hope he f*cking dies but there is no one else 2 blame but garry n my father for passing his evilness to him so u need 2 stop blabbing ur mouths bout the rest of the family cause i gaurantee u all have skeletons in ur closet 2 n u will never kno what its like 2 be afraid to look ne 1 in there eyes cause of the feeling of guilt n the fact that it was ur sibling that did this u dont kno the panic attacks when theres people all around u n u feel guilty by association n u people who claim 2 have known us dont even kno the half of it so leave it alone
You were affected by your environment, you just took it differently. What didn't kill you, made you stronger…smarter. I've been there believe me. Gary's big disadvantage was being a male without a strong male role model. No one could have ever expected this to happen, and you and your mother certainly aren't to blame. Anyone who thinks otherwise is obviously ignorant and not worth your time. Take care.
Taylor, I am a family member and I can say that Garry was never hospitalized for a beating by the police or any other incident that might have caused him to have brain damage. Trust me the only brain damage he has is what he caused himself with the drugs he took. He should have killed himself. He now has to man up and not put the family through a trial. Garry should not put his aunt, uncle, cousins through reliving the horrible details of how he manual murdered Brittany. He should be the person that has to explain to Brittany’s 3 year old sister why her sister isn’t coming home anymore. He should have to see her cry when you have to tell her that Brittany is with the angels and that she will never again be able to play dress up with her.
So please do not give a sob story of how bad Garry's life was. His childhood was not the wonderland but he had family that cared for him and got him the help he needed. His "pop pop" worshipped the ground he walked on. His aunt and uncle always made room for him when his self-centered drunk mother couldn’t deal with life. His father didn’t leave him at a “at a critical age”, his father and mother split when he was a baby. He had on and off contact with his father but Garry always had a strong father figure in his life with his maternal grandfather and his uncle. Sorry, the system didn’t fail Garry, Garry failed himself. He made the choice not anyone else. He knows right from wrong. There are many people that have lived harder and more horrible lives then Garry and they came out stronger and productive people. Garry made the choice to do drugs, Garry made the choice to lie, cheat and steal. Garry is the only consistent person in the whole decision making process. So if you want to feel bad for him, please go to the Ocean Co. corrections and ask him WHY he killed the person who thought of him as a “big brother” who loved him unconditionally. Then go to the Cena family home and sit with Brittany’s family who cry for the lose of their beautiful daughter, sister and granddaughter. Then tell me who is to blame. The system is not at fault.
So stop talking like you know Garry – Garry was always off center from the time he was a child. His father is a drug addict. His mother is an alcoholic. His father should have had a vasectomy. There are people that have bad lives and bad generics and they do not turn and kill the only person that really thought of him as the “big brother” she never had. He is an evil person. Born evil – he will always be evil. I don’t feel bad for him. He created this hell and now Brittany’s family has to live in the HELL he created. The only person I feel for is the Cena family.
First off, I am part of this family and it not only hurts but it sickens me to see these ignorant comments from you people who are only judging my family by what you are reading in the news articles. Let me tell you something…half the sh*t you're reading is all BS. You really think the reporters that harrassed my family for info REALLY give a flying f*ck about my family or the Cena family? No. They're trying to make a story, they don't give a sh*t that they're twisted stories are tearing apart my family. Don't believe everything you read people.
Everyone's got skeletons in their closets so stop wasting your time judging and trashing my family about things you know nothing about. I knew Garry his whole entire life. I grew up with him and his sister and also Brittany's older sister. So I know what really happened, not any of you. Garry was never a foster child, he didn't bounce around in the system, he was never abused or violated or beaten by cops, and his mother was never a drunk or drug addict. I spent many nights over my aunt's house with my cousins. Garry had alot of problems starting when he was a kid. He got into drugs and that made his life spiral downward. No one feels sorry for him. Every one in my family, including his mother and her side of the family, has tried repeatedly to help Garry. He chose to keep doing drugs and f*cking up his life and its a shame that Brittany had to suffer the way she did.
But don't sit here and point fingers and blame my family members or his mother or anyone else for that matter for what he did. Garry is an adult, he knew right from wrong, and now he will pay for what he did. But DO NOT trash my family when you know absolutely nothing about us or about any of the things any of us have been thru. We all have tried to help Garry at one time or another. No one is to blame but himself.
And instead of giving your ignorant opinions about my family, take a step back and look at the big picture. A young innocent girl suffered at the hands of her/my drug addict cousin. Doesn't that make you wanna go look at your kids or at least open your eyes to the fact that this could happen to ANY family? Why don't you all go take care of your own families and leave mine the f*ck alone. We are going thru enough pain, grief, and guilt by association for what has happened. We don't need your ignorant bias BS comments adding to our pain and suffering of this tragic loss.
Alot of families are hurting here and you people are just making it worse. F*ck the news, they lie and twist alot of things around, STOP JUDGING AND TRASHING MY FAMILY! All you're doing is hurting our families even more and it isn't fair.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion. But if you don't have something rational to say or at least have some concrete proof to back up your judgements then keep your mouths shut.
TO THE ONE WHO SAID HE WAS PROBABLY FROM KEANSBURG…SCREW YOU YA SHIT HEAD….THIS HAPPENS JUST ABOUT ANYWHERE SO DO NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT SHIT BRICK!!…..ITS VERY SAD FOR BRITTANY AND ALSO SAD FOR GARY….GARY WILL HAVE TO SUFFER WITH WHAT HE DID FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE FOR WHAT HE DID…I WOULDNT WANT TO LIVE WITH THAT WHAT I DID HAUNT ME EVERYDAY OF MY LIFE…THAT IS HELL…
as brittany's cousin who lived with her for seven years was like a sister to me and as for being that d*ckweeds sister i can assure you that my mother isn't a drunk. so maybe you need to stop slandering her all over the internet. because that's all it is, is slander. there's no truth to it. also, it wasn't her life she couldn't deal with, it was garry's. my mother tried everything she could for him. i know cause i was always dragged to go visit him in rehab every weekend with my mother. my mother visited him every weekend when he was locked up in ydc. she tried everything, so i don't think it's fair that you point fingers at mother, she did not do this. she didn't know this was going to happen, so she's not the one to blame. as for my father, he is a loser. you can al put blame on him instead. he was the one that injected heroin for the first time in his arm when garry was only 14. so if you need someone to blame you can blame him, because garry is the f*cking spitting image of my loser father. and if you have an issue with anything i've written, maybe you need to come see me. i'm easy to find i'm not hiding. but i guess it's easy when you hide behind a screenname, huh? you have something to say then state your name there's no reason to hide. i'm not hiding. JessIe p.s. if you notice there's an I in my name. Jesse is a boys name and last time i checked there's no d*ck between my legs.
wow. perhaps the best thing to do on an internet forum is to say nothing. especially on redbankgreen…
Went to primary school with Gary (Harmony) and I can't recall if he went to THorne for long.
Bad kids turn out to be bad adults sometimes, sad for the family, prayers are with you.