(CBS NewYork) 
Three teenagers were in custody Saturday morning, on charges of beating a homeless man to his death in Hoboken, N.J.
As CBS 2’s Janelle Burrell reported, Hudson County Acting Prosecutor Gaetano T. Gregory said two 13-year-olds and a 14-year-old were charged in the Sept. 10 death of Ralph Eric Santiago, 46.
Police believe the teens were playing a sick game.
- Prosecutor: 3 Teens Charged In Beating Death Of Homeless Man In N.J.
- WCBS 880’s Jim Smith Reports
“They took a substantial part our life away,” said the victim’s former wife, Tracy Squillini. “My heart — a piece of my heart’s gone.”
On Saturday morning, a bouquet of flowers marked the exact spot where Santiago’s head was found lodged between two posts on awrought iron fence. Family and friends never saw the attack coming.
Santiago was followed by the three teens while walking on 3rd Street between Adams and Jefferson Streets in Hoboken on Sept. 10 when one of the juveniles threw a punch at Santiago’s head in what detectives believe was a game of “knockout.” Santiago then collapsed onto the fence, wedging his neck between two iron fence posts, where he died, the prosecutor said.
This story was first seen on CBS Local