Four months after Maria Niotis and her best friend, Isabella Salas, were tragically murdered in Cranford, New Jersey, the Niotis family’s attorney, Brent Bramnickspoke to an investigative reporter Kristin Thorne as part of Us Weeklythe new true crime video series, discovery.
In September 2025, Niotis and Salas were hit by a car while riding their e-bikes for tea. Both victims were only 17 years old.
The person allegedly behind the hit-and-run was quickly revealed to be a former classmate who Niotis previously reported to the police with claims that he had been stalking her.
While speaking with Thorne, Bramnick revealed that his hope for the case is “that the Niotis family, as well as the Salas family, get justice.”
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“This is such a horrible experience (one) that any individual can go through, to see their child die, to have to go out and see their child take their last breath as a result of what we’re allegedly seeing is this juvenile defendant running his car over,” Bramnick said. “I hope we get a chance to know the truth of everything that happened from beginning to end. That’s what we hope for.”
Also during the conversation, Bramnick revealed that the Niotis family experienced two hitting incidents before the teenager’s death. Swatting is a prank in which people call the emergency services to get police officers to come to a place or property that does not need help or assistance.
Bramnick explained that police visited the Niotis family’s home without their knowledge during the first hit-and-run incident. “They only find out the next day, thanks to information received from Maria, that the police were at their house in a hit-and-run incident. So now they’re finding out and obviously they’re worried,” he said. “They go to the police and report what’s going on. They’re giving them information about this incident of beatings that they have now.”
Just a few days later, the family experienced another hit-and-run incident when there was “absolutely nothing” going on in the house that required a police presence.
As the family was getting ready for bed, Niotis’ mother, Foula Niotis, opened the front door and was greeted by police officers. “She looks down the street, the juvenile defendant is parked in his car across the street. The police come over and they talk to the juvenile defendant,” Bramnick said.
Foula expected the boy to be arrested. However, she watched him as he walked away from her house.
Thorne said he will monitor this case, as Maria and her family had made several complaints to police about the alleged perpetrator.
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“This is a story I’m going to stay on top of, because there’s a lot of accountability that needs to happen here. Maria and her family did the right thing. They went to the police,” Thorne concluded on Uncovered. “They were worried that this guy was harassing and stalking her, and look what’s happening. That’s the kind of thing that needs to change.”
Us Weekly reached out to the Cranford Police Department about their interactions with Maria and her family, but were referred to the Union County District Attorney’s office. A spokesman for the office said they would not comment on the case.