Crime & Safety
Hopatcong Woman Pleads Not Guilty to Killing Her Mom
Mirna Bolanos, 31, is accused of beating longtime Hopatcong Schools custodian Ligia Bolanos with a baseball bat last summer.
A Hopatcong woman accused of beating her mother to death with a baseball bat pleaded not guilty on Monday.
Mirna Bolanos, 31, appeared briefly before Judge Thomas J. Critchley in state Superior Court in Newton, according to the New Jersey Herald. Her attorney, David Nufrio, said his client will undergo a mental health evaluation before her next court appearance in May, according to the report.
Bolanos was indicted last month with first-degree murder, second-degree possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose and second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon.
Bolanos is accused of killing her mother, Ligia Bolanos, 56, a longtime custodian with the Hopatcong School District, during an apparent dispute last August. Ligia Bolanos was discovered beaten to death in the hallway of her Flora Avenue home, police said.
Officers responded to the home after Mirna Bolanos called police and said her mother was harassing her, according to Hopatcong Lt. Thomas Kmetz. The phone went dead mid-conversation. When police arrived, Mirna Bolanos cooperated with police, Kmetz said.
The two had a history of disputes, including one the night before the killing, according to an arrest affidavit.
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