Ex-Cop Abducted His Two Estranged Daughters, Killed Them, His Accomplice In Murder-Suicide

In a citizen’s complaint against, the widowed wife of a former Baltimore County cop has accused the York Area Regional Police Chief of meddling in the approval of an emergency protection from abuse order against her estranged husband, effectively sealing the tragic faith of her two young daughters.

The woman has personally named York Area Regional Police Chief Timothy Damon in the complaint for his role in the untimely death of her two offspring, Aaminah and Giana, who were abducted by her abusive ex-husband Robert Vicosa, a former cop, last week and killed in a horrific murder-suicide. Damon allegedly blocked a court order the matriarch had sought to protect her girls from their dangerous father, reported the Baltimore Sun.

Vicosa also allegedly killed his accomplice in the kidnapping, Tia Bynum, before taking his own life, according to ABC27.

“At approximately 3 a.m. on [Monday, Nov. 15], I was informed by two York Area Regional Police Officers that the chief of police put a stop to this order,” she related. “I am given no explanation for the stop and am still unaware of the reason for stopping the order. In the meantime, my two daughters continue to be in the custody of their father, who is a danger to them, me and himself.”

Her estranged husband took off with the two girls on Nov. 15, evading the authorities for four days before Vicosa decided to commit the heinous murder-suicide on late Thursday as law enforcement closed in on his location.

In a similar but unrelated story, a South Jersey mother and her two toddlers were allegedly stabbed to death by her estranged husband at the family's apartment complex last year. However, the brutal attack could have been prevented if the landlord had agreed to change the home's door locks as the victim had requested before her brutal death.

The victim, identified as Ruth Esther Reyes de Severino, 30, and her children, ages 5 and 2, were fatally stabbed on Feb. 5, 2020, by her abusive husband and the children’s father Eugenio Severino, 54, in the family’s flat in Penns Grove, about 33 miles southwest of Philadelphia. After committing the brutal murders, Eugenio reportedly hanged himself in a nearby wooded area, Daily News reported.

Eugenio had threatened to kill Severino on several occasions in the months before the murders. After several such menacing incidents, the woman finally obtained a restraining order on Jan. 16, ousting him from the apartment they had shared.

After obtaining the restraining order, Severino requested the apartment operators to change her door locks since her abusive husband had copies of the keys to the unit. However, the apartment owners Penns Grove Apartments, LLC, did not take the victim's request into consideration and denied her request to change her house's locks.

A few days later, on Feb. 5, 2020, just like Severino had feared, Eugenio used his keys to enter the apartment and proceeded to murder his wife and children before killing himself in a nearby wooded area, according to NJ.com.

The victims' family members and relatives have filed a lawsuit against apartment owners Penns Grove Apartments, LLC, and the apartment operator, Massachusetts-based Housing Management Resources, Inc. and are seeking compensatory and punitive damages, as well as the recovery of Severino’s $1,207 security deposit. The lawsuit alleges negligence, negligent hiring, wrongful death, and breach of contract.

Apartment operator Housing Management Resources, Inc. has also been accused in the suit of failing to abide by a Penns Grove ordinance after a 26-year-old Tayshon Hayward was killed outside the apartment complex following a dispute over US$30 in May 2019. Following his death, the ordinance required that all apartment complexes in the municipality install exterior security cameras and lighting to improve safety for residents.

“The defendants here didn’t bother to follow a law that was passed to address their own bad behavior, and the predictable result was an even worse tragedy,” said Samuel D. Jackson, a lawyer for the family.

“Women and their children should not have to fear for their lives or lose them because their landlords and the parties they contract with fail to keep those women and children safe,” he added.