The cancer-stricken mother of a beloved New Jersey woman stabbed to death more than a year ago is fearful she’ll succumb to illness and die before her daughter’s killer sees justice — as the accused murderer’s trial has faced months of delay.
“It’s not about me getting an answer. I want to make sure her killer gets what’s deserved,” said Janet Pizzelli, whose 27-year-old daughter Maryrose Fealey was murdered on January 30, 2024.
“My daughter got a death sentence, and I now have to live the rest of my life not seeing my daughter,” she told The Post.
Pizzelli, 60, had recently been diagnosed with breast cancer when Fealey — a Rutgers Business School graduate who walked away from a high-paying federal job to work in addiction charities — was found bloodied and dead outside her Somerville apartment after being stabbed a horrifying 37 times.
Days later, 28-year-old David Shroitman — who went to Somerville High School and college with Fealey, but was a complete stranger to her — was arrested after being found with a manifesto allegedly explaining his plans for the murder.
He was also allegedly cleaning out his car with bleach when police caught up with him, and resembled somebody security cameras caught near the scene the night of the killing.
But 14 months since the murder, Shroitman still has not gone to trial as his defense argues he’s not psychologically competent, Fealey’s family explained.
“His side had an expert interview him and they said he’s not competent. Then it came back to the prosecutor’s side. They hired somebody who said he is competent,” said Meghan Kelly, a friend of Pizzelli who had known Fealey since she was born.
The matter was due to be settled during a January hearing, but it was pushed back and is now scheduled for April. After that hearing happens — if it happens at all — the family may need to wait even longer for an actual trial date.
All the while, Pizzelli’s health has continued to deteriorate — leaving her increasingly fearful she won’t last much longer.
Since Fealy’s murder, Pizzelli has undergone a double mastectomy, spent a month unconscious after an allergic reaction to chemotherapy, was briefly wheelchair-bound and now can’t get around without a cane — while her cancer persists.
“It’s not the worst thing that happened last year, but whatever,” Pizzelli said of the cancer.
She’s fearful that if she dies, her daughter’s killer might walk away with a lighter sentence.
“We’re trying to avoid further delays and definitely want to avoid any sort of lighter sentence that might be given just due to the amount of time that’s passing,” she said.
Pizzelli and Fealy’s friends recently started an organization, “100 Voices for Maryrose” to keep her case alive in the minds of the community in the hope of getting the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office to bring it to trial.
“She put out a lot of light into the world,” said Mary Kelly, the daughter of Meghan Kelly and a lifelong friend of Fealy who’s heading the organization. “I feel like people say that all the time with cases like this, where they’re always like, ‘Oh, they were a great person,’ that’s all you hear. But Mary was actually making great strides to really change people’s lives.”
Pizzelli listed off numerous instances of her daughter’s selflessness — including once giving away her car to a woman escaping an abusive relationship, and also taking time away from her career to personally help her brother battle addiction.
And she says one of the hardest parts about fighting cancer has been having to do it without Fealy’s help.
“The last thing she said to me was, ‘Mom, tomorrow’s going to be the most painful day of your life, and then it’ll be better,’” Pizzelli said, recalling how hours before the murder her daughter stopped by to ease her worries about a chemo treatment scheduled for the next day.
“She came over and sat on my lap. And she kissed me and said, ‘I love you. I’ll see you later.’”
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