Updated: 2.9.23 at 6:47 pm
A week filled with hope for BelovED Community Charter School turned tragic yesterday with the news that a teacher at the school was found dead.
On Tuesday afternoon, the body of kindergarten teacher, Luz Hernandez, 33, of Jersey City, was found in a shallow grave in the area of Central Avenue and Third Street in Kearny.
Hernandez, a mother of three, was reported missing on Monday. The discovery took place yesterday at 4:53 p.m., after police had conducted a “welfare check” at her Van Horne Street home.
An autopsy performed on today determined that Hernandez died of blunt force trauma to the head and compressions to the neck.
BelovED founder Brett Schundler told the Jersey Journal “People loved her. She was a wonderful co-worker…she was a beloved member of the BelovED family. People are feeling devastated by this.”
News of the tragedy came just hours after Schundler’s universally praised presentation to the Jersey City Planning Board of a plan for the school’s expansion at “Canal Crossing Charter Public School Campus,” a 2000 student facility in Greenville.
Hernandez was the second Jersey City teacher killed this year. On January 24, Temara King was gunned down by her former partner. King was a teacher at PS-5.
The Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Unit is actively investigating this case with assistance from the Jersey City Police Department and the Kearny Police Department. No arrests have been made at this time.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Office of the Hudson County Prosecutor at 201-915-1345 or to leave an anonymous tip here. All information will be kept confidential.