By Barbara A. Preston | Posted January 29, 2026
Hillsborough police arrested Priyatharsini Natarajan, 35, on Jan. 13 for allegedly murdering her two sons, ages 5 and 7, in her Hillsborough home, according to the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.
A snowy window set the somber tone at a church crowded with educators, elected officials, police, parents, and a few young children — all soothed by beautiful music, kind words, and prayers from spiritual leaders of many faiths.
Natarajan pleaded not guilty in Somerset County Superior Court on Jan. 20. She is charged with two counts of 1st degree murder. The children appeared to have been strangled and were dead when authorities arrived.
Natarajan left a note stating she had planned to kill the children and herself. She was represented by a public defender.
This is the second time in about four years that a mother was charged with killing her two young children in Hillsborough.
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On November 9, 2021 Hillsborough police arrested Yuhwei Chou, 36, of Skillman and charged her with two counts of 1st degree murder. Chou had told the court she purposely and knowingly caused the death of her children, Samantha Ross, 7, and Paul Ross, 10 months of age, by duct taping their faces. She was found not guilty in 2025 by reason of insanity. The courts committed her to a treatment facility.
Rev. Jeff Knol held a vigil for the two boys at the Hillsborough Reformed Church in Millstone on Jan. 17. He had held a vigil for a similar tragedy about four years ago, when he served as pastor of the Blawenburg Reformed Church in Montgomery Township.
When Rev. Knol learned of the recent deaths, he said a wave of sorrow, anguish, and despair had rolled over him. He contacted Hillsborough officials and members of the faith community and offered his historic sanctuary, built in the 1700s, for the vigil.
“I thought it would be good to get together, and not be alone in this pain and sorrow,” he said.
Speakers included Mayor Catherine Payne, and multiple clergy, including Vivek Rao of the Hillsborough Maharaja Club; Jill Collict of the Faith Lutheran Church and Rev. Rod Williams, associate minister of Fountain Baptist Church.
Michael Volpe, Superintendent of Hillsborough schools, also spoke. The boys attended Sunnymead School.
