Cops: Long Branch Man Charged With Murder of City Woman

Authorities have charged a Long Branch man with one count of first-degree murder after the body of a city woman was found in a bedroom of his Rockwell Avenue home, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni said.

Christopher “Chato” Aparicio-Reyes, 21, of Long Branch, is charged in the murder of Jennifer A. Pizzuto, 40, of Long Branch. Pizzuto was found dead in a second floor bedroom at 140 Rockwell Ave. after police responded to a 10:38 p.m. call about the discovery of an unresponsive female, Gramiccioni said.

A joint investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the Long Branch Police Department led to the arrest of Aparicio-Reyes on Monday,after he was found inside a 6th Avenue apartment. He was taken into custody without incident, he said.

Aparicio-Reyes is being held in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution in Freehold Township. Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Honora O’Brien Kilgallen set his bail at $1 million cash. Kilgallen also forbid Aparicio-Reyes to return to the crime scene if he were to be released on bail, Gramiccioni said..

Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Ryu Washburne, of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office at 1-800-533-7443 or Detective Marshall Brown, of the Long Branch Police Department, at 732-222-1000.

The case is assigned to Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Matthews.