A 23-year-old has pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter in the 2019 death of his six-week-old baby girl, announced Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey.

Austin Meli, of Wall Township, entered the plea today.

The case background …

On March 9, 2019 Wall Township Police Department responded to a residence in their jurisdiction regarding an unresponsive six week old infant.

At the time, the investigation determined that the six-week-old had been in the immediate care of her father, Meli, at the time she was found to be unresponsive.

The infant was pronounced dead at Ocean Medical Center, Brick. Subsequent investigation revealed additional details surrounding the infant’s death, and determined the manner of the baby’s death to be a homicide.

Meli is facing a sentence of 30 years in a New Jersey state prison for the guilty plea of the first-degree aggravated manslaughter charge. That sentence is also subject to the No Early Release Act (NERA), which requires that he serve 85 percent of his sentence prior to being eligible for parole. The state is also recommending that this sentence run consecutive to the sentence he is already serving.

Meli is currently serving a 10-year 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 in connection with the physical abuse of his other child. Meli’s sentence for those charges is also subject to an 85 percent period of parole ineligibility pursuant to the No Early Release Act.

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

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