After N.Y. Teacher Is Found Slain and Burned, Husband and Pregnant Girlfriend Are Charged
The burned, dead body of a New York City mother of three was found last Thursday inside a storage container. The following day, the woman’s estranged husband and his mistress were charged with murder, PEOPLE confirms.
The second-degree murder charges against Michael Cammarata, 42, and Kangi-Ayisha Egea, 41, follow the death of 37-year-old Jeanine Cammarata who was discovered in a storage facility in the borough of Staten Island.
Cammarata and Egea are also charged with concealment of a human corpse and tampering with physical evidence. Both were arraigned Friday and are being held without bail.
Cammarata has been in police custody since Tuesday, when he was charged with misdemeanor harassment and stalking.
Jeanine, a public elementary school teacher, had been missing for six days when her remains were discovered in the Staten Island storage facility.
Jeanine’s divorce attorney believes that on the night she disappeared, Cammarata lured her to his home.
“I think he used the children as bait and lured her there and whatever happened happened,” Eric M. Gansberg tells PEOPLE. “I think the love for her children and dedication resulted in her doing what she could to see the children, and the results were devastating for her. I can only imagine the terror she endured.”
“She was terribly afraid of him,” he adds.
Gansberg says Jeanine had recently filed for divorce. A hearing about custody issues was scheduled for Monday but she never showed up. “I think this is his reaction to her initiating divorce and immediate custody while the divorce was pending,” he says.
RELATED: Charred Remains Found in New York Storage Unit as Police Search for Missing Mom of Three
The former couple, who had been separated since 2017, didn’t have a custody or parenting agreement and Cammarata was “putting walls up,” says Gansberg.
“The children were his weapon,” he says.
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According to NBC 4, it was Egea who allegedly told police where they could find Jeanine. The station reports she was found in a garbage bag, surrounded by air fresheners.
Investigators are also in possession of surveillance video that allegedly shows Michael with a bag in his hand walking out of his Queens apartment, according to ABC7. Police also allegedly have video from the storage unit that appears to show him with the same bag.
Her cause of death “is still under investigation,” Ryan Lavis, communications director with the Staten Island District Attorney’s Office tells PEOPLE.
Police began investigating Jeanine’s disappearance Tuesday. At the time, Jeanine’s landlord Jose Perez told ABC7 that the missing mother had been concerned about her safety, alleging that she had experienced “harassment, following her in the car.”
Gansberg says Jeanine was not only a dedicated parent but a dedicated teacher. “That is why it so heartbreaking,” he says. “My belief is anyone who has come in contact with her loved her. I never ever heard a bad word about Jeanine.”
A hearing for the suspects is scheduled for April 11.
Attorneys for Cammarata and Egea could not be reached for comment.
