TOMS RIVER — A Manchester Township man has admitted he tried to kill his mother during a violent assault last summer and now faces a decade in state prison.
Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said Joseph Cavallaro, 45, pleaded guilty on January 30 to attempted murder before Superior Court Judge Guy P. Ryan. Sentencing is scheduled for March 26, when prosecutors plan to seek a 10-year New Jersey State Prison term under the No Early Release Act, which requires offenders to serve most of their sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
The charges stem from an incident on June 27, 2025, when Manchester Township police were called to the Pine Acres Manor Mobile Home Community shortly after noon for a report of a woman in distress. Officers entered a residence and found a 71-year-old woman with severe injuries to her face and body.
The victim was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center, where she received treatment for multiple injuries before being released.
Investigators later determined the woman was Cavallaro’s mother. Authorities said the two became involved in an argument that escalated into a physical attack. Prosecutors said Cavallaro beat his mother inside her home, leaving her unconscious and causing a concussion, fractured ribs, a fractured skull and multiple facial fractures.
Cavallaro was arrested later that day without incident and has remained lodged in the Ocean County Jail since his arrest.
During his guilty plea, he acknowledged that his intent during the assault was to cause his mother’s death.
Billhimer credited Assistant Prosecutor Lynn Juan for handling the case and praised the work of multiple agencies involved in the investigation, including the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime and High Tech Crimes units, the Manchester Township Police Department and its Detective Bureau, the Manchester Fire Prevention Bureau and the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit.
