NEW JERSEY — Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella announced an additional charge of Aggravated Manslaughter against Jonathan Melendez, a television production worker of The Bronx, NY.
On Wednesday, October 23, 2019, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit initiated an investigation regarding twin infants brought to Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, NJ with significant injuries, including multiple fractures and head trauma. As a result of that investigation, it was learned that the infants had been in the custody of their biological father, Melendez, in Teaneck, NJ when the injuries were sustained.
On Friday, October 25, 2019, the father was arrested by the Teaneck Police Department and charged with two counts of Aggravated Assault and two counts of Endangering The Welfare Of A Child and remanded to the Bergen County Jail.
On Thursday, October 31, 2019, Hackensack University Medical Center advised the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit that one of the infants had succumbed to injuries and was pronounced dead at 12:10 p.m. Following notification, the Teaneck Police Department charged JONATHAN MELENDEZ with one count of Aggravated Manslaughter.
The mother had rushed the babies to the hospital last week.
