Man Who Killed Manalapan Girl, 6, Dies Suddenly In Prison

MANALAPAN, NJ — A man who kidnapped and killed a 6-year-old girl in Manalapan almost 25 years ago has died in prison. Kevin Aquino was found unresponsive on March 11 inside his cell in New Jersey State Prison in Trenton, a maximum-security prison.

"He was last seen alive after taking a shower, 20 minutes earlier,'' Corrections Department spokesman Matt Schuman told the Asbury Park Press. "There doesn't seem to be anything unusual.''

Aquino was not reportedly ill or injured. He was 42 years old. He was found unresponsive in his cell, and there was nothing suspicious surrounding the circumstances of his death, a Corrections spokeswoman told Patch. An autopsy was performed, which is required of all deaths inside the state prison system.

Aquino killed 6-year-old Amanda Wengert 23 years ago, on March 6, 1994. Her murder shocked quiet, serene Manalapan and all of Monmouth County. Aquino, then 19, lived with his parents just three houses down from the little girl and her family near the intersection of Alexandria Drive and Cherry Hill Lane in Manalapan, according to this New York Times article about her murder. Aquino's parents, Hector and Carmella, were friendly with Amanda's parents, Ronald and Karen Wengert. Shockingly, it was while the Wengerts were attending an anniversary party for the Aquinos at the Aquinos' home that Kevin Aquino sneaked into their house and kidnapped Amanda.

The Wengerts discovered their middle child missing when they returned from the party at about 2 a.m. Their other two daughters, 9 and 3, were asleep in their beds. Amanda was gone.

Police were called in, and Amanda's body was found two hours later by police dogs. Her skull had been smashed in, and her body was behind a fence in the Aquino's backyard. Kevin Aquino was arrested in his bedroom in his pajamas. He was found guilty of first-degree murder and kidnapping.

He was sentenced on Sept. 22, 1995, to life in prison with a minimum of 55 years before he could be up for parole. Kevin Aquino was not unknown to Manalapan police: He had been arrested at least twice before Amanda's murder, once after he was found in the girls' restroom at Pine Brook Elementary School and then again after he asked a 13-year-old neighborhood girl to come into his house, according to the Times. As a teenager, Kevin was often seen playing with children much younger than him in the neighborhood.

He worked at the Roy Rogers on Route 9, where he was described as quiet and shy. He had once even briefly worked for Amanda's father's construction company.