Leonardo Woman Indicted in Fatal Hit and Run That Killed Girl, 15

Middletown, NJ - A Monmouth County grand jury handed down a 4-count indictment Monday charging a Middletown woman with leaving the scene of a fatal motor vehicle accident last summer, one that took the life of a 15-year-old Atlantic Highlands girl.

Toni Marletta, 50, of 12 Thompson Avenue in the Leonardo section of Middletown , is charged with one count of second-degree Knowingly Leaving the Scene of an Accident Resulting in a Fatality, one count of second degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child and two counts of third degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child, announced Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Chris Gramiccioni.

The accident occurred July 7, 2015.

Middletown Township Police were dispatched at approximately 8:24 p.m. that night to Rt. 36 in the area of Avenue D for a report of a pedestrian struck by a motor vehicle. Upon arrival, police immediately located the 15-year-old victim, Marissa Procopio, of Atlantic Highlands. She was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center, where she died the next day.

“You never think this is going to happen to someone in your family,’’ her grandfather, Paul Procopio told a reporter at the time, in an interview at the family’s Little Silver dry cleaning business, Willow Cleaners.

An investigation into the fatal collision by Middletown Township Police, in cooperation with the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, determined the victim was crossing Rt. 36 in the area of Avenue D, when she was struck by a motor vehicle driven by Marletta. Marletta, who had three 16-year-old girls in her car at the time of the collision, fled the scene, but the investigation led police to Marletta’s vehicle later that evening. The vehicle displayed damage consistent with the collision. Marletta ultimately arrived at the Middletown Township Police Department, but was later released pending further investigation.

The investigation progressed and Marletta was charged on July 15, 2015, with Knowingly Leaving the Scene of an Accident Resulting in a Fatality. Marletta was held in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution, Freehold Township, on $150,000 bail with no 10 percent option. Her attorney was able to get a bail reduction and she was later allowed the option of posting 10 percent of the bail amount. Marletta posted bail and was released on August 4, 2015.

Marletta also faces motor vehicle summonses related to the collision for Failure to Report a Motor Vehicle Collision, Uninsured Motor Vehicle, and for having an Unsafe Tire.

If convicted of the most serious crime — Knowingly Leaving the Scene of an Accident Resulting in a Fatality — Marletta faces up to 10 years in state prison.

She is represented by Peter M. O’Mara, Esq., of Little Silver.