FREEHOLD – Appellate judges Monday ordered the release from jail of a 19-year-old Asbury Park man awaiting trial on charges that he threw his newborn son’s remains into a trash dumpster after the child’s mother allegedly murdered him.

The Appellate Division of Superior Court ordered the release of Quaimere Mohammed while he awaits trial on a charge of desecrating the newborn infant’s remains, said his attorney, Steven E. Nelson of the Neptune Law firm Nelson, Fromer, Crocco & Jordan.

The decision overturns Superior Court Judge James J. McGann’s April 12 order that Mohammed be held at the Monmouth County Jail without bail while his case is pending.

Stephanie Dugan, an assistant Monmouth County prosecutor, said the state has not yet decided whether to appeal the appellate division’s ruling to the state Supreme Court.

Mohammed learned of the appellate decision Monday afternoon, just prior to a hearing before McGann to set conditions of his release, Nelson said.

“He was very happy,’’ Nelson said of his client.

McGann ordered Mohammed not to contact the baby’s mother and another woman who is a state’s witness, who tipped off police to the suspected murder. McGann also ordered Mohammed not to discuss the case with anyone except his attorney and parents. The judge banned Mohammed from having a firearm or other destructive devices, consuming alcohol or drugs and using Snapchat, the online application in which messages disappear shortly after they are read. Mohammed must report to court personnel weekly – by phone every other week and in person every other week.

Joseph Competello, an assistant Monmouth County prosecutor, unsuccessfully argued for Mohammed to be confined to his home, monitored by an electronic anklet and banned from the Internet.

But Nelson pointed out that his client has no prior arrests and that he has to go to New York on a weekly basis to pursue a music career.

Mohammed is accused of throwing the remains of his newborn son into a dumpster in the Washington Village apartment complex in Asbury Park on March 29.

The newborn’s mother, Jada McClain, 18, of Neptune, is charged with murder and desecrating human remains and is being held at the county jail without bail.

Authorities allege McClain gave birth to a boy she named Legend in her bathroom on March 29 and then took him to her bedroom, placed him on her bed and pressed on his chest until he stopped breathing. Then, authorities allege, she placed the baby’s body in a bag, drove to Asbury Park to pick up Mohammed, and the pair eventually went to Washington Village to dispose of the remains. There, Mohammed was seen on surveillance footage throwing a bag and an article of clothing in the trash, authorities said.

The baby’s remains have not been recovered.

McClain and Mohammed were arrested April 5, after a woman to whom McClain had sent a picture of the baby contacted police.

At Mohammed’s detention hearing on April 12, McGann said the case was so disturbing that it overcame a legal presumption that Mohammed be released to await trial.

Nelson at that hearing revealed a series of text messages between Mohammed and McClain, including one in which McClain said, “I’m the one who heard him struggling to breathe when I was killing him.’’ He said the pair was madly in love and that McClain was petrified her parents would find out she was pregnant.

Prosecutors said McClain had hidden her pregnancy from her parents.

Under New Jersey’s bail reform system, only defendants charged with the most serious crimes, such as murder, can be held in jail without bail unless the state proves there is a risk the individual will obstruct justice or pose a danger if released.

The appellate decision said the state did not prove that in Mohammed's case.

“It’s the right decision,” Nelson said. “They righted a wrong.”

Competello said the case is pending grand jury, and that no offers of any plea bargains will be extended before there is an indictment.

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