2 brothers charged in missing N.J. girl's slaying

George Mast and Phil Dunn, (Cherry Hill, N.J.) Courier-Post | USATODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption FB post leads police to Autumn Pasquale murder suspects Two teen brothers have been charged with killing Autumn Pasquale and stuffing her body in a recycling bin. The teen's own mother saw a suspicious Facebook post and called police.

Mother saw suspicious posting on Facebook account of one of her sons with one word: Autumn

Police found girl's bike, backpack, other evidence at the boys' home

The 15-year-old boy was known for trading BMX bicycle parts; brother, 17, also charged

CLAYTON, N.J. — Autumn Pasquale loved to ride her BMX bike.

On Saturday, she headed to a nearby park to enjoy the paths and hills as she often did.

Police say that passion likely led the 12-year-old to a brutal death.

Two teenage brothers lured the girl to a nearby home on the premise of buying bicycle parts and then dumped her body in a recycling bin, according to authorities.

On Tuesday, Justin Robinson, 15, and Dante Robinson, 17, who lived with their mother and stepfather were charged with Autumn's death.

Investigators say a key break in the case came when the mother notified police after seeing a suspicious posting on the Facebook account of one of her sons. Several students said Tuesday the message included only one word: Autumn. The message allegedly was sent to the victim's brother.

The Gloucester County Medical Examiner's office determined the cause of death as blunt force trauma, consistent with strangulation.

"The manner of death is homicide," Gloucester County Prosecutor Sean Dalton said. He added there were no signs of sexual assault.

The two brothers were charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, disposing of a body, tampering with evidence and theft. In addition, Justin Robinson was charged with one count of luring.

Dalton said his office is considering transferring the case to adult court.

After hearing from the boys' mother, Dalton said police executed a search warrant on the home Tuesday morning and found the girl's white Odyssey BMX bicycle, her backpack and other evidence.

Justin was known for trading BMX bike parts, said friends Corey Hewes, 19, and Alexis Davis, 16, who joined dozens of people outside the suspects' home behind yellow police tape. Bicycle parts were visible in the home's backyard.

Police believe that is why Autumn, who lived several blocks away, went to the house.

Police said that the Clayton Middle School student, who would have celebrated her 13th birthday next week, disappeared Saturday afternoon, prompting a massive two-day search of the park and nearby streets.

About 10 p.m. Monday, police discovered Autumn's body inside a large blue recycling bin outside a vacant property not far from the suspects' home. At that time, many of the town's residents were at a candlelight vigil. Several people said the two suspects also attended the vigil.

Tuesday is trash collection day, and many residents had dragged their trash cans and recycling bins to the curb the night before. The covered recycling bins are collected by an automated truck that picks them up and dumps the contents into the back.

On Tuesday, Autumn's family addressed the media and the public at the same spot outside borough hall where just 24 hours before hundreds of people had turned up to start a massive public search.

"We have lost a precious, precious child," said Paul Spadafora, Autumn's uncle and godfather. "It's not the results we wanted, but we have closure."

Clayton Mayor Thomas Bianco who walked to the crime scene, cried, hugged a police officer and gave a brief statement to the gathered reporters.

"You hear about it in other places but never think it would happen in our little town," he said.

(Contributing: Lucas K. Murray, (Cherry Hill, N.J.) Courier-Post; The Associated Press.)