New Jersey Teenager ‘Casually’ Slaughtered His Family During New Year’s Eve Party

A New Jersey man who was a teenager when he killed four members of his family in a New Year’s Eve massacre in 2017 was recently sentenced to serve the remainder of his natural life behind bars.

Scott Kologi, 20, was convicted in February 2022 of the quadruple homicide of his sister, Brittany Kologi, 18; his mother, Linda Kologi, 44; his father, Steven Kologi, 42; and his grandfather's partner, Mary Schulz, 70.

At 11:43 p.m. on Dec. 31, 2017, the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office responding to a report of shots fired at the Kologi family’s home in Long Branch found the four victims all dead from gunshot wounds at various locations inside the residence, according to the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.

“These were acts of evil, carried out by someone who knew exactly what he was doing,” Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Sean Brennan said at a sentencing hearing in June 2022. “He killed them because he could. He killed them because he wanted to.”

Brennan said the investigation determined Scott, then 16, researched whether or not the Century Arms C39v2 semi-automatic rifle he used in the attack would be effective against bulletproof vests worn by responding officers, and he wore earplugs during the rampage to protect his hearing.

According to the assistant prosecutor, Scott first lured his mother, Linda, upstairs during the family’s New Year’s Eve party and from his darkened room shot her dead. When the convicted killer’s father, Steven, rushed up to see what was happening, Scott fired his weapon and killed him. He then, according to Brennan, walked around his parents’ bodies, went downstairs and “casually” murdered his sister Brittany, who was home on break from her freshman year at college, as well as his grandfather’s companion, Mary Schulz.

Officials said 12 of the 14 shots the teenager fired that night hit his victims.

Brennan noted that although Scott’s brother and grandfather were home during the attack and “physically survived,” they both “will still have to deal with the mental scars of what they saw."

Scott was arrested at the scene and charged as an adult with four counts of first-degree murder and a second-degree weapons offense.

At the sentencing hearing, Scott’s defense attorney, Richard Lomurro, claimed his client “is, and was, severely mentally ill,” and “not a cold-blooded killer,” the Asbury Park Press reported.

The defendant’s paternal grandmother, Carol Kologi, echoed the statement, telling the court, “Scott was a 16-year-old child who recognized that he needed help because of damaging thoughts. Scott told his mother that he was having bad thoughts about killing people, including family members.”

“Although he was found guilty, I do believe Scott's mental condition is the impetus behind that night in 2017,” she said. “I'm asking the court for some compassion and understanding in this matter.”

The judge sentenced Scott Kologi to 150 years in prison in connection with the quadruple homicide. He must serve at least 85 percent of his sentence, or a total of nearly 128 years, before he becomes eligible for parole.