New Jersey murder-suicide victim's texts show suspect harassed her for months, family says

Text messages reveal a New Jersey woman feared for her safety for months before she and her boyfriend were allegedly murdered by her ex.

New Jersey State Police Sgt. Ricardo Santos shot and killed Lauren Semanchik, his ex-girlfriend, and Tyler Webb, a volunteer firefighter, in Franklin Township before his death by suicide, according to investigators.

The Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office has since taken over the Franklin Township Police Department as it investigates prior interactions between Semanchik, 33, and Santos, and any attempts by her to file a restraining order.

A police chief and sergeant were placed on leave. 

Victim's texts told ex-boyfriend to leave her alone

Allison Semanchik said she and her father discovered the bodies of her sister and Webb behind her sister's house Saturday, the day after they were murdered.

Semanchik said Santos harassed her sister for nearly a year after their breakup in 2024, according to text messages between the exes.

"Throughout this whole experience, [Lauren] just very slowly became terrified to be alone, to be in her own home," she said. 

Her sister previously accused Santos of planting recording devices in her house.

Semanchik's sister told Santos in one text exchange, "I FEEL THREATENED. I am a single small female who recently had water in her gas tank, a recording device in my room, and now this."

She said Santos had keyed her sister's car in another town and put water in the gas tank. It was reported to another police department.   

In October 2024, a month after they broke up, Semanchik's sister texted Santos saying she was scared.

"If you continue to either reach out to me or invade my privacy in any way, I will be getting a restraining order," she wrote.

Another text said, "I do not feel safe continuing to speak to you. That is incredibly unsettling." 

Semanchik said Santos "had ways of finding out information of things [Lauren] was doing or people she was talking to ... we still don't know how he did it." 

Semanchik's sister resorted to putting cameras in her home and car, her family said. Prosecutors said the one in her car caught Santos following her the night of the murders. 

Police department under fire

Semanchik and other family members said her sister tried to get Franklin Township police to help her.

"And especially in mentioning he is a cop. That should be enough to, if anything ... go up and down the street a little more often. But instead they told her there's nobody here that can help you," Semanchik said. "They didn't call her back when she left them a message about fearing for her life." 

"A lot of agencies failed her. She tried to get restraining orders. Nobody called her back," Jeannine Semanchik, the victim's mom, said. 

The police department came under fire after prosecutors said officers showed up the night of the murders after neighbors reported hearing screams and gunshots, then left.

The department has not commented on the investigation.