WALL – A 26-year-old Wall Township man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for the murder of his 6-week-old daughter, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago said.
Austin Meli was sentenced on December 16 after previously pleading guilty to first-degree Aggravated Manslaughter on February 10.
Officers from the Wall Township Police Department responded to a home with an unresponsive six-week-old infant on March 9, 2019. During that time, the baby was in the immediate care of her father, Meli.
The child was pronounced deceased at Ocean Medical Center in Brick. Authorities later discovered that Meli had smothered the child to stop her from crying, resulting in the baby’s death by asphyxiation.
“The defendant’s depraved actions caused this horrific tragedy and left other family members to mourn an immeasurable loss,” Prosecutor Santiago stated. “While it is impossible to make this family whole, this plea deal and the subsequent sentence provides justice and closure for the victim’s family for such an unspeakable and heinous act.”
Meli is currently serving a 10-year New Jersey State Prison sentence for second-degree Aggravated Assault, two counts of second-degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child, and fourth-degree Tampering with Physical Evidence for crimes committed upon another of his children. Meli’s sentence for those charges is subject to an 85% period of parole ineligibility pursuant to the No Early Release Act. For the first-degree Aggravated Manslaughter charge, Meli is also required to serve 85% of it prior to being eligible for parole. This sentence will run consecutive to a sentence that Meli is already serving.
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