By MICHAEL NUNES
Staff Writer
FREEHOLD — A Monmouth County grand jury returned a nine-count indictment against four men charged with the 2009 killing of a beloved Red Bank Social Studies teacher, Jonelle Melton, who was found dead in her Neptune City apartment, according to the office of Monmouth County Acting Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.
James M. Fair, 28, Ebenezer Byrd, 36, and Gregory A. Jean-Baptiste, 27, all of Asbury Park, and Jerry J. Spraulding, 38, of Keansburg, have all been indicted on nine counts including Conspiracy, second degree Burglary, first degree Robbery, first degree Felony Murder, second degree Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose, and second degree Unlawful Possession of a Weapon.
Byrd and Jean-Baptiste are charged additionally with first degree Tampering with a Witness. Byrd and Spraulding face additional charges of second degree Certain Persons Not to Possess Weapons.
The four men are being held on $1.5 million cash only bail, with a bail source hearing required before they can be released, as set by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Joseph W. Oxley.
Fair, Byrd and Jean-Baptiste were charged on Nov. 19 of last year while Spraulding was charged on Jan 15. All four men are serving prison sentences for unrelated crimes.
The murder, which school officials have called the most traumatic event to happen in the district, occurred the morning of September 14 at Melton’s Neptune apartment at the Brighton Arms complex on West Sylvania Avenue.
According to the prosecutor’s office, detectives learned that Fair, Byrd, Jean-Baptiste and Spraulding planned to burglarize a specific apartment in the Brighton Arms complex. The men broke into the wrong apartment and encountered the victim. At some point after realizing they were in the wrong apartment, the men killed Melton.
The Neptune City Police Department received the 911 call at around 9:07 a.m. Paramedics at the scene pronounced her dead.
Colleagues described Melton as “energetic, vibrant and warm.” A candlelight vigil was held at the Red Bank Middle School on the day Melton’s body was discovered by her husband, and school was canceled Sept. 21, the day of her funeral.
The case is being prosecuted by Monmouth County First Assistant Prosecutor Marc C. LeMieux and Assistant Prosecutor Matthew Bogner.
Byrd is represented by Paul Zager, Esq., of Red Bank. Jean-Baptiste is represented by Robert Konzelmann, Esq., of Howell. Spraulding is represented by Carlos Diaz-Cobo, Esq., of New Brunswick. Fair is represented by James Leonard, Esq., of Atlantic City.