Slain Colonia woman's remains to be taken to California

• A three-hour memorial service for Giorgina Cimino Nigro will be held Monday
• The service will at Branchburg Funeral Home in Branchburg
• The public is invited to attend

WOODBRIDGE – A memorial service with a closed casket will be held at 4 p.m. Monday for a 32-year-old Colonia woman killed in her home last week.

Giorgina Cimino Nigro's older sister is scheduled to give the eulogy during the three-hour service at Branchburg Funeral Home, 910 Route 202 South, Branchburg, which also will feature Bible scripture. Branchburg Funeral Home is affiliated with Bongiovi Funeral Home in Raritan Borough, where the family has been making arrangements.

The public is invited to attend, according to Angela Cimino, Giorgina's mother, adding that her daughter had many friends.

"A lot of people loved her. She was a great person. She wanted to help everybody," said Cimino.

She said her daughter's cremated remains will be taken back to California, where Cimino lives.

Phyllis Adams, executive director of Women Aware, a New Brunswick based domestic violence agency, said she plans to attend the funeral.

"I'll be there to support the family at this difficult time," said Adams, who declined to say whether she knew Giorgina Cimino Nigro. She said all of the agency's services are free and confidential.

Family members are expected to wear purple, which Adams said is the color worn during October and other times of the year for domestic violence awareness.

Women Aware's mission is to end domestic violence in the lives of women, children and men, and to change societal attitudes and institutions that promote and condone violence, through public policy, advocacy, education and programs and services that promote lives free of violence.

Giorgina Cimino Nigro and her ex-husband had a rocky, allegedly abusive relationship, Cimino said.

Giorgina Cimino Nigro was found dead inside the Devon Road home she shared with her ex-husband, Vito Nigro, 42, around 10 a.m. July 22.

Vito Nigro has been charged with her murder and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. He remains in fair condition at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick after allegedly trying to commit suicide by jumping onto the Garden State Parkway on July 22 after his ex-wife was killed. He is being held on $750,000 bail.

Giorgina Cimino, the mother of three young children, died from blunt-force and sharp-force trauma, according to the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office. Officials have not specified what type of weapon was used to kill her.

The couple worked together at European Hair Designs, off Oak Tree Road in South Plainfield.

Staff Writer Suzanne Russell: 732-565-7335; srussell@mycentraljersey.com