A 26-year-old area man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for the homicide fo his six-week-old baby girl, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago announced on Monday.

Austin Meli, of Wall Township, was sentenced on Friday, Dec. 16, before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Joseph W. Oxley. The sentence is subject to the No Early Release Act (NERA), which requires Meli to serve 85 percent of it prior to being eligible for parole. This sentence will run consecutive to a sentence that Meli is already serving.

“The defendant’s depraved actions caused this horrific tragedy and left other family members to mourn an immeasurable loss,” Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. 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 pleaded guilty to first-degree aggravated manslaughter on Feb. 10.

The case background …

On March 9, 2019, Wall Township police responded to a residence in their jurisdiction regarding an unresponsive six-week-old infant. At the time, the investigation determined that the infant had been in the immediate care of Meli, her father, at the time she was found to be unresponsive.

The child was pronounced deceased at Ocean Medical Center in Brick. Subsequent investigation, led by Wall Township police and the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office detectives, revealed that Meli had smothered the child in order to stop her from crying, resulting in the baby’s death by asphyxiation.

Meli is currently serving a 10-year NJ 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 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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