Long Branch man pleads guilty to aggravated manslaughter in death of former teen girlfriend

Erik Larsen | Asbury Park Press

Show Caption Hide Caption The death of 16-year-old Madison Wells Why was 16-year-old Madison Wells stabbed to death?

FREEHOLD - A Long Branch man has pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing his 16-year-old former girlfriend last year, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni announced.

Bryan Cordero-Castro, 21, of Long Branch pleaded guilty Friday to aggravated manslaughter and attempted escape in the death of Madison Wells on Sept. 8, 2018, Gramiccioni said in a statement.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, the Prosecutor’s Office will recommend a sentence for Cordero-Castro of 30 years in state prison on the first-degree aggravated manslaughter charge in which he will be subject to the provisions of the No Early Release Act, requiring him to serve a minimum of 25½-years before he is eligible for parole. On the third-degree attempted escape charge, a consecutive sentence of five years will be recommended, Gramiccioni said.

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If state Superior Court Judge Marc C. LeMieux in Freehold accepts the recommendation when Cordero-Castro is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 7, he would be about the age of 50 before he could expect to be released from state prison.

The plea agreement was reached after consultation with the victim’s family, Gramiccioni said.

Officers from the Long Branch Police Department and EMS personnel were dispatched to a Van Pelt residence at 10:42 p.m. on Sept. 8, 2018, after authorities received a 911 call that someone had been stabbed and was in need of medical attention.

Upon arrival, the teen was discovered on the living room floor with stab wounds to her chest. She was taken to nearby Monmouth Medical Center where she was pronounced dead at 11:25 p.m., according to the prosecutor.

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A joint investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office and Long Branch police found that Cordero-Castro and Wells began dating in November 2017, Gramiccioni said in the statement.

Although Wells recently had ended her relationship with Cordero-Castro, he texted and called her more than 230 times over a period of nine hours leading up to her death, the statement said.

Earlier in the day, Cordero-Castro went to the Van Pelt Place home of one of her family members looking for her.

When he did not find her there, he continued to call and text her. He then went to her home on Cleveland Avenue and ultimately back to the Van Pelt Place residence where Wells agreed to go outside and speak to him. A few minutes outside, she 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 later. In custody at Long Branch police headquarters, Cordero-Castro attempted to escape by trying to run out of the booking room, authorities said.

He was subdued by Detective Sgt. Brendan Cahill and Patrolman Evan Morell.

Cordero-Castro is incarcerated in the Monmouth County Jail in Freehold Township, where he has been since his arrest more than a year ago.

The case is assigned to Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutors Tara Wilson and Stephanie Dugan. Cordero-Castro is represented by defense lawyer Adam J. Weisberg of Ocean Township.

Erik Larsen: 732-682-9359 or elarsen@gannettnj.com