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Austin Meli, a 23-year-old resident of Wall Township, was indicted on Friday for murder and endangering the welfare of a child in the death of his 6-week-old daughter, according to Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.
Meli already is in state prison on separate charges that he physically abused the girl's older brother. Meli was sentenced to 10 years in state prison in March 2020 for violently abusing his 15-month-old son, according to earlier news accounts.
Some of the abuse inflicted upon the son was captured on a video camera that Meli had installed in the room, the prosecutor said at the time. The surveillance video captured a series of violent acts by Meli against his toddler son that occurred in the days before his daughter’s death, authorities said.
Meli now faces a state prison sentence of 30 years to life without parole for his infant daughter's death, the prosecutor said.
On March 9, 2019, Wall Township police responded to a residence regarding an unresponsive infant.
The investigation determined that the child had been in the immediate care of her father, Austin Meli, at the time she was found unresponsive, Gramiccioni said.
The child was subsequently pronounced dead at Ocean Medical Center in Brick Township.
Subsequent investigation revealed additional details surrounding the infant’s death, according to Gramiccioni, and determined the manner of the baby’s death to be a homicide.
If anyone has any information that can assist the investigative team, they are urged to call Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Sergeant Shawn Murphy at 732-431-7160 ext. 7032 or Wall Township Police Detective Chris Lisewski at 732-449-4800 ext. 1140.
Anyone who feels the need to remain anonymous but has information about a crime can submit a tip to Monmouth County Crime Stoppers by calling their confidential telephone tip-line at 1-800- 671-4400 or by going to the website at www.monmouthcountycrimestoppers.com
Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutors Ellyn Rajfer and Margaret Koping are handling the case.
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