A “blue wall of silence” protected the state trooper who killed his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend in Franklin, Hunterdon County, earlier this month, lawyers and the victims’ loved ones said Thursday at the announcement of a lawsuit.

Lawyers for Lauren Semanchik and Tyler Webb’s survivors announced they will sue three police departments, the New Jersey State Police and the Franklin and Washington Township, Morris County police departments.

They will allege a systemic failure of police action on multiple levels following at least three complaints by Semanchik that her ex, state police Lt. Ricardo J. Santos , was harassing her since their September 2024 breakup.

“The blue wall of silence is where police officers protect their own,” attorney David A. Mazie said at the event, held

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