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Cousin Of NJ Girl Found Dead In Basement Arrested

TOMS RIVER, N.J. (CBS) ― Police made an arrest in the death of a 15-year-old Toms River girl who was found dead inside her home last night.

Sources tell CBS 2 HD the victim's cousin was arrested in connection with her death. Garry Zigich Jr. is being charged with Brittney Cena's strangulation murder.

Cena was found dead around 6 p.m. Tuesday in the basement of her home. Police rushed to the home after receiving a 911 call reporting that the girl had been found on the floor of the basement.

The girl's grandparents found her after a missing persons report was filed when she did not come home from school, Ford said. She did not go to school Tuesday, although her family assumed she was there.

Cena's parents and other family members gathered in court, crying and holding each other as Zigich, a junior, made his first appearance and muttered the words "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do it."

"I can't say nothing," said relative Matt Garcia. "I'm just shocked she's gone."

Counselors are being made available to classmates at Toms River High School North.

"Brittney was the sweetest girl," Chelsea Scifo said. "[She] did well in school, got good grades. She was always there always a smile on her face."

According to police, Zigich checked himself into a hospital at 9 a.m. Tuesday, saying he was suicidal. Investigators believe he strangled Cena 2.5 hours earlier in the basement of her home, as her father slept upstairs. They base their timeline on a call Cena placed to a friend at 6:30 a.m.

"Some friends were text messaging her and calling her. Then her parents called her…all these efforts went unanswered," said Chief Michael Mastronardy.

Her parents assumed she had gone to school, but when she didn't return in the afternoon, they reported her missing. An hour later, the teenager was discovered in the basement of her Toms River home.

"She was a beautiful girl…she was someone's daughter, someone's sister. It's sad. She also had a little sister and now her sister won't grow up with her," said neighbor Lucy Dimicco.

Prosecutors still don't have a motive but do say Zigich was unemployed, was staying with the family while he got his life together. Now, he has been charged with murder, and he is being held on $500,000 bail.

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