Three charged in New Jersey teacher Jonelle Melton’s murder

A murder that has been a mystery for nearly six years has been solved. On September 13, 2009 33-year-old middle school teacher Jonelle Melton was found beaten to death in her West Sylvania Avenue apartment in the Brighton Arms apartment complex in Neptune City by her husband, Michael Melton.

Michael Melton went to check on his wife after she didn’t answer phone calls or show up to work as a teacher at Red Bank Middle School.

Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni announced Thursday that Byrd – along with James Fair, 27, and Gregory Jean-Baptiste, 26, both of also of Asbury Park – have been charged with murder, armed robbery, conspiracy, burglary and weapons offenses in connect to the 2009 incident that cost Melton her life.

All three men are currently incarcerated on unrelated charges.

For years, authorities were asking for the public’s assistance in solving the case offering a reward to capture her murder(s).

In August, authorities announced they had a break in the case saying they were close to making an arrest. However, officials have not said what that break was or what evidence led to Byrd, Fair and Jean-Baptiste being charged.

Gramiccioni said Melton’s killing was essentially a case of “mistaken identity.”

“The offenders had intended to break into one apartment but chose the wrong one. They chose Jonelle’s,” he said. “And once they encountered her, they brutally murdered her.”

All three men pleaded not guilty on the charges on Friday in a Monmouth County courtroom.