Ventnor Woman Sentenced in the Murder of Her Mother and Grandmother

A Ventnor woman will be spending decades in prison after pleading guilty to murdering her mother and grandmother in 2018.

Thursday afternoon, 43-year-old Heather Barbera was sentenced to New Jersey state prison with an aggregate sentence of 42 years with 40 years and 2 months without parole.

In a press release, Atlantic County Prosecutor Damon G. Tyner said, "This tragic incident illustrates that domestic violence and the disease of addiction impacts so many families in all of our communities. The defendant singlehandedly altered the course of her entire family by taking the lives of her mother and grandmother. As a result she’ll have the next 40-plus years to think about her actions."

87-year-old Elaine Rosen and her daughter, 67-year-old Michelle Gordon, were found dead on the morning of July 8, 2018, inside a residence at 4800 Boardwalk in Ventnor City.

In October, Barbera pleaded guilty to an mended count of first degree aggravated manslaughter in the death of her mother Michelle Gordon and first degree murder of her grandmother.

Through the course of an investigation, authorities say Barbera took a bus to New York City after committing the murders and she was identified by NYPD officers on the afternoon of July 11, 2018, at the Midtown Manhattan Port Authority on 42nd Street and she was taken into custody.