Prosecutor: 22-Year-Old Man Gets 35 Years for Fatal Stabbing of 16-Year-Old Ex

The ex-boyfriend of a 16-year-old girl was sentenced to 35 years in prison for fatally stabbing her in 2019 and related charges, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni announced on Friday.

The ex-boyfriend, Bryan Cordero-Castro, 22, of 4th Avenue in Long Branch, was sentenced on Friday to 30 years in prison after being convicted of the charge of aggravated manslaughter in the stabbing death of 16-year-old Madison Wells. The sentence is subject to the provisions of the No Early Release Act, requiring him to serve 85 percent of the sentence imposed before becoming eligible for release on parole. Cordero-Castro got an additional five years in prison, consecutive to the aggravated manslaughter, on an escaping custody charge.

Cordero-Castro pleaded guilty on Nov. 22, 2019 to first-degree aggravated manslaughter and third-degree attempted escape in connection with the Wells stabbing death.

The case background …

On Sept. 8, 2019 at 10:42 p.m., a 911 call was placed reporting a stabbing victim in need of medical attention at a Van Pelt Place residence in Long Branch. Long Branch police and EMS were dispatched to the home where they found 16-year-old Madison Wells on the living room floor with stab wounds to her chest. She was transported to Monmouth Medical Center where she was pronounced dead at 11:25 pm.

A joint investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the Long Branch Police Department determined that Cordero-Castro and Madison began dating in November of 2017.

Madison had recently ended the relationship. In the 9-hour period leading up to the murder, Cordero-Castro texted and called her in excess of 230 times. Earlier in the day, Cordero-Castro went to the Van Pelt Place home of a family member of Madison’s looking for her.

When he did not find her there, he continued to call and text her. He ultimately went back to the Van Pelt Place residence where Madison agreed to go outside and speak to him. A few minutes after going outside, Madison stumbled back into the house and collapsed on the floor from the stab wounds to her chest.

Cordero-Castro was arrested at his cousin’s residence on Morris Avenue in Long Branch about two hours after the murder. Once at the Long Branch Police Department headquarters, Cordero-Castro attempted to escape by jumping up and trying to run out of the booking room. He was quickly stopped by Detective Sgt. Brendan Cahill and Officer Evan Morell.

— Edited press release from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office