FREEHOLD – A 21-year old Long Branch man is facing 30 years in prison for the fatal stabbing of a 16-year old girl back in 2018.
Bryan Cordero-Castro, the ex-boyfriend of 16-year-old Madison Wells, pleaded guilty to charges of first degree Aggravated Manslaughter and third degree Attempted Escape in connection to Wells’ murder on Sept. 8, 2018, announced Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.
The state is recommending a sentenced of 30 years in prison on the Aggravated Manslaughter charge, subject to the provisions of the “No Early Release Act” (NERA), as well as a consecutive five years on the Escape charge. The plea agreement was reached after consultation with the victim’s family.
On Sept. 8, 2018, police and EMS personnel responded a Van Pelt Place residence in Long Branch for reports of a stabbing victim in need of medical attention. Once on the scene, authorities observed Wells on the living room floor with stab wounds to her chest. She was transported to Monmouth Medical Center where she was pronounced dead at 11:25 p.m.
Further investigation revealed that Cordero-Castro and Wells began dating in November 2017. After Wells ended the relationship, Cordero-Castro texted and called her in excess of 230 times in the nine hour period leading up to the murder.
Earlier in the day, Cordero-Castro went looking for Wells at the Van Pelt Place residence, which belonged to her family member. When he did not find her there, he continued to call and text her. He then went to her home on Cleveland Avenue and ultimately back to the Van Pelt Place residence. There, Madison agreed to go outside and speak to him but stumbled back into the house just a few minutes later, injured. She collapsed on the floor from the stab wounds to her chest.
Cordero-Castro was arrested at his cousin’s residence on Morris Avenue in Long Branch approximately two hours after the murder. Cordero-Castro attempted to escape the Long Branch Police Department by jumping up and trying to run out of the booking room. He was quickly stopped by Detective Sergeant Brendan Cahill and Officer Evan Morell, both of the Long Branch Police Department.
Cordero-Castro is scheduled for sentencing on Feb. 7, 2020. He remains incarcerated in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution, where he has been detained since his arrest.
