Belleville Man On Heroin Who Killed Pregnant Mom Gets Decade Behind Bars

A Belleville man who was high on heroin when he fatally struck a 34-year-old pregnant Verona mom with his car will be spending 10 years behind bars.

Megan Villanella died in March 2017, when a 27-year-old man high on heroin struck her with his car in Verona.
Photo Credit: *Jim Villanella*

Cecilia Levine

04/12/2019 2:15 p.m.

Anthony Casale Jr., 27, was sentenced Friday in Essex County Superior Court, NorthJersey.com reports.

Casale was behind the wheel of his white Mitsubishi when he struck Megan Longo Villanella -- who was seven months pregnant -- and her brother Derek Longo on a Lakeside Avenue sidewalk in March 2017.

Megan and her husband of nine years, Jim Villanella, were two months away from welcoming their second daughter into the world. The couple moved to Verona from Hoboken in 2015.

The couple's now-four-year-old daughter Isabella understands that her mom is gone but still asks why, Jim told NorthJersey.com.

More than $47,000 had been raised on a GoFundMe toward a memorial for Villanella as of Friday afternoon.

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